Economy in Brief

Both the German manufacturing IFO gauge and the Markit manufacturing gauge show fading trends in Germany. Still, the topical readings range from weak to very strong, depending on the nature of the response. Generally, current [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported that its National Activity index increased to 0.24 during October from 0.14 in September. The three-month moving average was fairly steady at 0.31. During the last ten years, there has been [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas indicated in its Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey that the General Business Activity Index declined to 17.6 during November. It was lowest level since August 2017 and well below the high of 38.4 [...]

The OECD has reduced its outlook and it warns of a growth slowdown. The OECD now says this: Growth forecasts for next year have been revised down for most of the world’s major economies. Global GDP is now expected to expand by 3.5% in [...]

The Conference Board's Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators edged 0.1% higher (5.9% y/y) during October following a 0.6% September gain, revised from 0.5%. It was the smallest rise since May. No change in the index level had [...]

The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes in October increased 1.4% m/m to 5.220 million units (SAAR) but were down 5.1% from a year earlier. The September figure was not revised. This was the first [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose 3,000 in the week ended November 17 to 224,000 (-6.3% y/y); the prior week's initially reported 216,000 was revised upward by 5,000 to 221,000. The latest week's 224,000 is the highest [...]

Weakness in the durable goods manufacturing sector was evident last month as new orders declined 4.4% (+6.7% y/y) following a 0.1% September dip, revised from a 0.7% increase. The decline outpaced expectations for a 2.7% weakening in [...]