Economy in Brief

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 [...]

The job market remains firm. Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to 210,000 during the week ended August 18 from an unrevised 212,000 the week earlier. It was the lowest reading in five weeks. The Action Economics Forecast [...]

The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes during July moved 0.7% lower (-1.5% y/y) to 5.340 million (AR), following an unrevised 5.380 million during June. It was the fourth consecutive month of [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Index increased 4.2% last week (-16.1% y/y) following five consecutive weeks of decline. The effective interest rate on a 15-year mortgage was little- [...]

U.K. order books continue to hold ground, according to the industrial trends survey issued by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Their net position slipped in August to 7 from 11 in July and 13 in June. Their August level is [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported that its Nonmanufacturing Business Index of current conditions at the company level increased to 41.1 during August, the highest reading since June 2015. A slightly lessened 51 percent [...]