Economy in Brief

Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose 3,000 in the week ended November 17 to 224,000 (-6.3% y/y); the prior week's initially reported 216,000 was revised upward by 5,000 to 221,000. The latest week's 224,000 is the highest [...]

Weakness in the durable goods manufacturing sector was evident last month as new orders declined 4.4% (+6.7% y/y) following a 0.1% September dip, revised from a 0.7% increase. The decline outpaced expectations for a 2.7% weakening in [...]

The U.K. industrial survey from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) showed total orders rebound to log a gain at a reading of 10 in November after a negative balance of responses at -6 in October. Export orders ‘turned around’ [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported that its Nonmanufacturing Business Index of current conditions at the company level increased to 42.4 during November and recouped most of its October decline. A higher 55% of [...]

Gasoline prices fell last week to an average $2.61 per gallon (+1.7% y/y) from $2.69 during the prior week. Prices have fallen from an average high of $2.90 in the last six weeks to the lowest level since mid-March. Haver Analytics [...]

Total housing starts rose 1.5% (-2.9% y/y) during October to 1.228 million units (AR) from 1.210 million in September, revised from 1.201 million. The rise matched expectations for 1.228 million starts in the Action Economics Forecast [...]

The euro area shows sharp drops in its current account and goods surpluses over three months, six months and 12 months. The current account surplus has dropped to 17 billion euros, a decline of 23 billion euros from its level of 12 [...]

The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders-Wells Fargo declined to 60 during November from 68 in October. It was the lowest reading since August 2016 and compared to the expansion high of 74 in [...]