Economy in Brief

Personal income increased 0.4% during April following an unrevised March rise. The rise matched expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Wages & salaries jumped 0.7% (3.7% y/y) after holding steady in March. Rental [...]

New orders for durable goods declined 0.7% (+0.9% y/y) during April following a 2.3% March rise, revised from 0.7%. Earlier figures also were revised back to 2002. A 1.1% decrease in orders had been expected in the Action Economics [...]

Economic growth was revised to 1.2% during Q1'17, up from the advance estimate of 0.7%. Growth remained the weakest in three quarters. A 0.8% advance had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Raised estimates of [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City reported that its index of regional manufacturing sector business activity stood at eight in May, following an unrevised decline to seven in April. It remained down sharply from the March [...]

The Belgian National Bank indexes reveal a picture of an economy still trying to corral growth. The total industry, manufacturing, wholesale & retail, and construction sector indexes all log negative values in May. Only business [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance nudged up to 234,000 (-12.7% y/y) during the week ended May 20 from 233,000 during the prior week, revised from 232,000. It remained near the lowest level of initial claims since July 1973. [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Volume Index increased 4.4% (-16.2% y/y) in the week ended May 19, after a 4.1% decline during the prior week. Refinancing applications rebounded 10.5% [...]

Oil has been driving trends in the PPI for some time now (see the chart on the left). Since at least 2006, every single major shift in the PPI growth rate has been preceded by a substantial change in the Brent oil price. The recent [...]