Economy in Brief: May 2018

Output per hour in the nonfarm business sector rose 0.7% at a seasonally adjusted annual rate in Q1'18 following a 0.3% rise in Q4'17; the latter was revised from zero change reported in March. The consensus in the Action Economics [...]

The chart tells the tortured story of recent EMU inflation trends. Inflation remained low in the wake of the financial crisis and then the EMU area transitioned into a period with sporadic deflation. After mid 2016 it broke away from [...]

Manufacturers' orders gained 1.6% (+8.1% year-on-year) during March, the second consecutive monthly increase of this magnitude. Manufacturing shipments rose 0.4% (6.8% y/y) to a record high $503 billion. Shipments have grown for 12 [...]

The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services declined to $48.96 billion during March from $57.74 billion in February, revised from $57.6 billion. It was the narrowest deficit in six months. A $52.3 billion deficit had been expected in [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance edged higher to 211,000 (-12.8% y/y) in the week ending April 28, from an unrevised 209,000 in the prior week. Claims had fallen sharply in the week ending April 21 and the Action Economics [...]

At today's meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, the federal funds rate target was held constant in a range between 1.50% and 1.75%. The financial markets had expected today's action as indicated in the Action Economics [...]

Quarterly GDP slows in EMU in the Q1 and also slows in all the original EMU members that are early reporters – Spain excepted. Growth also slows in the United States and slows sharply in the United Kingdom. More broadly, year-over- [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Volume Index fell 2.5% last week (-4.2% y/y), following a 0.2% slip during the prior week. Purchase loan applications declined 1.6% (+4.9% y/y), after [...]