Economy in Brief

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve reported that its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index fell to 19.5 during July and added to its June decline to 27.6. It was the lowest reading since November. The figure compared to [...]

Initial claims for jobless insurance claims fell to 233,000 (-4.4%) during the week ended July 15 from 248,000 in the prior week, revised from 247,000. Expectations called for 245,000 claims in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. It [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Volume Index increased 6.3% (-32.2% y/y) in the week ended July 14 following a 7.4% decline in the prior week. Purchase applications improved 1.1% (6.8% [...]

Total housing starts increased 8.3% (2.1% y/y) during June to 1.215 million (AR) from 1.122 million in May, revised from 1.092 million. It was the highest level of starts since February. Starts of 1.150 million had been expected in [...]

The ZEW index in July continues to point to very strong prevailing current conditions in Germany against a minor step back for German expectations. However, the current assessment for the euro area is up solidly in July, rising to [...]

Regular gasoline prices fell to $2.28 per gallon last week (+2.2% y/y) from $2.30 in the prior week. They were down versus the high of $2.45 per gallon in late-April. Haver Analytics constructs factors adjusting for the seasonal [...]

The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders-Wells Fargo declined 3.0% to 64 during July following a June fall of 4.3% fall to 66, revised from -2.9%. Despite five m/m declines this year, the index [...]

Import prices declined 0.2% during June (+1.5% y/y) following a 0.1% May dip, revised from -0.3%. The Action Economics Forecast Survey also expected a 0.2% fall. These figures are not seasonally adjusted. Petroleum import prices fell [...]