Economy in Brief

The German IFO index rose to 105.3 in August from 104.6 in July, striking its strongest posture since it logged a value of 105.9 in March. Still, from June 2017 through February 2018, the index had carried readings of 106 or stronger, [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported that its National Activity index fell to 0.13 during July from 0.48 in June. The decline came after two months of great variability. The three-month moving average fell to 0.05, its lowest [...]

In July, Japan's headline inflation was up by a strong 0.3% but balanced by a 0.1% gain in the CPI excluding food and energy (core). The headline gain followed a weak 0.1% June rise while the core gain followed an even weaker 0.1% [...]

New orders for durable goods fell 1.7% (+9.2% y/y) during July following a 0.7% June increase, revised from 1.0%. An unchanged level of orders had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. A 5.3% decline (+11.8% y/y) in [...]

The EMU PMIs have been falling over the last six months, but in August the indexes are stabilizing on very minor technical rebounds. The EMU manufacturing PMI fell to 54.6 in August from 55.1 in July as the services PMI posted a [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City reported that its index of regional manufacturing sector business activity declined to 14 in August, the lowest level since December. It remained down from the high of 29 three months ago. The [...]

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Price Index for house purchases rose 0.2% in June (6.5% y/y), following a 0.4% increase in May, which was revised from 0.2%. Over the last three months, the index was up at a 3.2% annual rate. [...]

The market for new homes varied greatly last month. New single-family home sales declined 1.7% (+12.8% y/y) during July to 627,000 (AR) after a 2.4% June fall to 638,000, revised from 631,000. It remained the lowest level of sales [...]