Economy in Brief

The manufacturing PMI continues to point to stronger growth while industrial production continues to plod along. Industrial production fell 0.1% m/m in March, the same as February. That hardly seems like what the PMI is referring to. [...]

Total retail sales and spending at restaurants increased 0.4% during April (4.5% y/y) following a 0.1% March gain, revised from -0.2% reported initially. Earlier figures also were revised. It was the strongest gain in three months. A [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance slipped to 236,000 during the week ended May 6 from an unrevised 238,000 in the prior week. Expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey had called for 245,000 claims. The four-week [...]

The headline Final Demand Producer Price Index increased 0.5% during April following a 0.1% March dip. Being the strongest gain in three months, it pulled the y/y increase to 2.5%, the firmest since February 2012. The monthly increase [...]

Pattern of vicious cycles hits U.K. IP; is it down for good? Industrial output in the U.K. has fallen for the consecutive third month. Oddly that leaves IP up in the quarter gaining at a 1.4% annual rate. That bit of oddness stems [...]

The U.S. Treasury Department reported that during April, the federal government ran a $182.4 billion budget surplus compared to a $106.5 billion surplus in April 2016. A $170.0 billion surplus had been expected in the Action Economics [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Volume Index rose 2.4% (-15.2% y/y) in the week of May 5, after little change in the prior week. Refinancing applications rebounded 3.3% (-31.5% y/y) [...]

French and Italian IP both rose in March. In France manufacturing IP gained 2.5% and in Italy it rose by 1.2%, both solid to strong gains. In France the rise more than offsets a fall in February. In Italy the gain builds on a rise of [...]