• • • Sales of new single-family homes plummeted 15.4% in March to 627,000 units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (-9.5% year-on-year)... New home sales activity and prices are available in Haver's USECON database, while MBA loan [...]
Introducing
Sandy Batten
in:Our Authors
Sandy Batten has more than 30 years of experience analyzing industrial economies and financial markets and a wide range of experience across the financial services sector, government, and academia. Before joining Haver Analytics, Sandy was a Vice President and Senior Economist at Citibank; Senior Credit Market Analyst at CDC Investment Management, Managing Director at Bear Stearns, and Executive Director at JPMorgan. In 2008, Sandy was named the most accurate US forecaster by the National Association for Business Economics. He is a member of the New York Forecasters Club, NABE, and the American Economic Association. Prior to his time in the financial services sector, Sandy was a Research Officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Senior Staff Economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisors, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the US Treasury, and Economist at the International Monetary Fund. Sandy has taught economics at St. Louis University, Denison University, and Muskingun College. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles in a wide range of academic publications. He has a B.A. in economics from the University of Richmond and a M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from The Ohio State University.
Publications by Sandy Batten
Global| May 26 2020NEW TT
by:Sandy Batten
|in:Economy in Brief
- Global| May 26 2020
New Home Sales Surprise with Increase in April
• New single-family edged up 0.6% m/m in April to 623,000, counter to expectations, with downward revisions to February and March. • Though down meaningfully so far this year, sales are still well above late-2018 lows. • Mortgage [...]
by:Sandy Batten
|in:Economy in Brief
- Global| May 15 2020
TT
• • • The Empire State Manufacturing Index of General Business Conditions collapsed to -78.2 in April.............. The Empire State figures are diffusion indexes, which are calculated by subtracting the percentage of respondents [...]
by:Sandy Batten
|in:Economy in Brief
- Global| May 15 2020
Empire State Manufacturing Index Rebounds in May But Still Depressed
The Empire State Manufacturing Index of General Business Conditions rebounded to -48.5 in May from the record collapse to -78.2 in April. As bad as the May figure was, it was considerably above the Action Economics Forecast panel's [...]
by:Sandy Batten
|in:Economy in Brief
- Global| May 13 2020
U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims Continue to Fall
• Initial claims fall to another pandemic low. • State continuing claims and insured unemployment rate edged down. • PUA and PEUC continuing claims rose. Initial claims for unemployment insurance declined to 473,000 in the week ended [...]
by:Sandy Batten
|in:Economy in Brief
- Global| May 13 2020
tt
• Financing rates fall and are at or near record low.... • Purchase volume rose for third consecutive week as some states begin to reopen. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its Mortgage Loan Application Index edged up [...]
by:Sandy Batten
|in:Economy in Brief
- Global| May 13 2020
U.S. Mortgage Applications Edge Up
• Financing rates remain near record lows. • Purchase volume rose for fourth consecutive week while refinancings faded further. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its Mortgage Loan Application Index edged up 0.3% w/w [...]
by:Sandy Batten
|in:Economy in Brief
- Global| May 06 2020
U.S. Mortgage Applications Flat; Rates Fall Further
• Financing rates fall and are at or near record lows. • Purchase volume rose for third consecutive week as some states begin to reopen. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its Mortgage Loan Application Index edged up 0.1% [...]
by:Sandy Batten
|in:Economy in Brief
- Global| May 06 2020
U.S. Mortgage Applications Flat; Rates Fall Further
• Financing rates fall and are at or near record lows. • Purchase volume rose for third consecutive week as some states begin to reopen. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its Mortgage Loan Application Index edged up 0.1% [...]
by:Sandy Batten
|in:Economy in Brief
- Global| Apr 30 2020
TTl
• • The employment cost index (ECI) for civilian workers rose 0.7% in the fourth quarter of 2019............. The employment cost index, which measures the change in the cost of labor, free from the influence of employment shifts [...]
by:Sandy Batten
|in:Economy in Brief
- Global| Apr 30 2020
Employment Cost Growth Edges Up
• Growth of overall compensation unexpectedly picked up to 0.8% q/q in 2020 Q1. • Wages and salaries growth accelerated while benefits slowed. The employment cost index (ECI) for civilian workers rose 0.8% q/q in the first quarter of [...]
by:Sandy Batten
|in:Economy in Brief
- Global| Apr 29 2020
TT
• • PREVIOUS>>>>The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its Mortgage Loan Application Index eased 0.3% (+70.0% y/y) in the week ended April 17 ......... The survey covers over 75% of all U.S. retail residential mortgage [...]
by:Sandy Batten
|in:Economy in Brief
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