Economy in Brief: 2017

Sales of new single-family homes rebounded in January, rising 3.7% m/m to 555,000 units, seasonally adjusted at an annual rate. The sharp 10.4% m/m drop in December was revised up to a 7.0% m/m decline (575,000 units), but this was [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance increased to 244,000 (-7.6% y/y) during the week ended February 18 from 238,000 claims in the week prior, revised from 239,000. Expectations had been for 240,000 claims in the Action Economics [...]

Despite a coming setback to German confidence in March, the GfK look-ahead confidence reading remains strong and is barely off that index's best of all-time levels. There have been three episodes in which the GfK reading has attained [...]

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) index of U.S. house prices rose 6.2% during all of 2016 following a 5.7% increase in 2015, and a 5.4% gain during 2014. These increases were down somewhat from the 7.3% rise in 2013, yet [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Market Volume Index fell 2.0% last week (-28.8% y/y) following a 3.7% decline during the week prior. Purchase applications were off 2.8% (-0.5% y/y) after a 4.5% fall. [...]

Regular gasoline prices of $2.30 per gallon (+33.1% y/y) last week were down a penny from the prior week. The February average of $2.30 compared to $2.35 per gallon in January. Prices were lower than the 2014 high of $3.71 per gallon. [...]

Sales of existing single-family homes increased 3.3% (3.8% y/y) to 5.690 million units (AR) during January following December sales of 5.510 million, revised from 5.490 million. Expectations had been for 5.540 million purchases in the [...]

Both the U.S. inflation target rate (PCE) and the EMU target rate (HICP) are showing strong moves higher. Clearly inflation is on the rise...or is it really that simple? My prevarication in the face this quite overwhelming chart has [...]