Economy in Brief: March 2019

The value of construction put-in-place increased 1.3% (0.3% y/y) during January following a 0.8% December decline, revised from -0.6%. November's figures were revised sharply downward. January's increase was the largest in nine [...]

The headline Final Demand Producer Price Index improved 0.1% during February (1.9% y/y) following three months of slight decline. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected a 0.2% increase. Producer prices excluding food & energy [...]

New orders for durable goods unexpectedly rose 0.4% (8.4% year-on-year) during January following small offsetting revisions in November and December. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected a 0.8% decline in January. A 13.1% [...]

New orders for durable goods increased 1.2% (3.5% year-on-year) during December ....... The durable goods figures are available in Haver's USECON database. The Action Economics consensus forecast figure is in the AS1REPNA database. [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Index rose 2.3% (-0.9% year-on-year) during the week ending March 8. After double-digit gains in early January and then four consecutive monthly declines, [...]

The retail price for gasoline rose to $2.42 per gallon last week (-5.4% y/y).......... These data are reported by the U.S. Department of Energy. The price data can be found in Haver's WEEKLY and DAILY databases. Greater detail on [...]

The retail price for gasoline rose to $2.42 per gallon last week (-5.4% y/y).......... These data are reported by the U.S. Department of Energy. The price data can be found in Haver's WEEKLY and DAILY databases. Greater detail on [...]

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) reported that its Small Business Optimism Index increased to 101.7 during February following five consecutive months of decline. The index gained 0.5% m/m but was 5.5% lower y/y. [...]