Economy in Brief: August 2014

Nonfarm productivity increased at a 2.5% annual rate last quarter (1.2% y/y) following a 4.5% Q1 decline, revised from -1.7%. Real output growth of 5.2% (3.2% y/y), rebounding from a 2.4% Q1 drop, was accompanied by a 2.7% increase [...]

The Federal Reserve Board reported that consumer credit outstanding increased $17.3 billion (6.7% y/y) during June following an unrevised $19.6 billion May rise. Expectations were for an $18.0 billion increase, according to the Action [...]

Industrial production in Germany in June rose by 0.3%, only partly restoring May's 1.7% drop. German industrial output is falling over three months and six months. The pace of decline is gathering steam over shorter horizons. All [...]

Job market improvement continues. Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to 289,000 (-13.7% y/y) during the week ended August 2 from 303,000 in the prior week, earlier reported as 302,000. The four-week moving average of [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that their total Mortgage Market Volume Index gained 1.6% last week (-30.0% y/y), making up most of the prior week's decline. Applications remained two-thirds below the peak in September 2012. [...]

The U.S. foreign trade deficit during June eased to $41.5 billion from $44.7 billion in May. The deficit was the smallest since January and shallower than consensus estimates for $44.3 billion in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. [...]

It has not been a good day for statistics out of Europe. Italy has just unexpectedly recorded its second consecutive drop in quarterly GDP, giving way to cries of recession. Germany has reported out a large drop in orders and the [...]

The price for a gallon of regular gasoline declined two cents last week to $3.52 (-3.2% y/y). Prices remained down from the $3.78 per gallon peak reached in February of last year. To account for seasonal volatility, Haver Analytics [...]