Economy in Brief: 2012

Japan’s sector indices are each well below their recent peaks on the charts. Each shows a decline for the period of the financial crisis, from which manufacturing and services made some sort of recovery. Each also depicts the hit from [...]

Higher interest rates are having a quick effect on mortgage loan applications. The index of total mortgage applications fell 7.4% last week to 681.9 (+30% y/y), down for the sixth consecutive week. Applications to refinance fell 9.3% [...]

Sales of existing homes edged down in February to a 4.590M annual rate (+8.8% y/y) from a revised 4.630M during January, last month reported as 4.570M. Despite the edge down, sales remained near the highest since May 2010. Sales of [...]

Consumers in the Benelux Custom Union, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, are early indicators of changes in consumer confidence. March data for Belgium and the Netherlands were released today. Confidence increased among the [...]

Chain store sales rose 0.9% last week to the highest level since the holiday shopping season. That was enough to raise the year-to-year increase to 3.3%. During the last ten years there has been a 72% correlation between the y/y [...]

Pump prices for regular gasoline rose another four cents. Last week's gain to $3.87 per gallon pulled them up sixty-four cents (19.8%) during the last four weeks to their highest since last May. Reduced seasonal demand typically [...]

Housing starts fell last month by 1.1% (+34.7% y/y) to 698,000 from a revised 706,000 in January, initially reported as 699,000. Expectations had been for 697,000 starts for February. The performance amongst regions was mixed. Starts [...]

The rise in its currency, the real, and a slowdown in economic activity has prompted the Brazilian government to impose foreign exchange restrictions and capital controls. Brazil's current problems and its progress in meeting them can [...]