Economy in Brief

PMIs in June in the EMU area showed some respite from the steady decline in recent months. Services PMIs showed some recovery as manufacturing has continued to slip. The gain in services has been enough to boost the overall PMI gauge. [...]

The French manufacturing sector gives a steady signal in June but at a level that is off-peak. French services tick higher on the month. In general, the French indexes are moving in concert with those from Germany’s IFO index. Europe [...]

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve reported that its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index retreated to 19.9 during June, its lowest level since November 2016. Expectations had been for a reading of 28.9 in the Action [...]

The Conference Board's Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators improved 0.2% (6.1% y/y) during May after an unrevised 0.4% April rise, which was the same as during March. The latest monthly gain fell short of expectations for a [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance were 218,000 during the week ended June 16, down from 221,000 in the prior week, which was revised from 218,000. Expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey called for 221,000 claims [...]

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) index of U.S. house prices nudged 0.1% higher (6.4% y/y) during April after a 0.2% March rise, revised from 0.1%. Over the past three months, prices have risen at a 4.7% annual rate, down [...]

The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes fell 0.4% (-3.0% y/y) during May to 5.430 million units (AR) following a 2.7% April decline to 5.450 million units, revised from 5.460 million. It was the [...]

Germany has a history of being ‘unreasonable’ about inflation. In the interwar period with the development of hyper-inflation, Germans developed a strong aversion to even a whiff of inflation. So Germany, nationally and down to [...]