Economy in Brief

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve reported that its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index for October increased to 27.9 after a rise to 23.8 during September. The figure remained up sharply versus the 2015 low and compared [...]

The Conference Board's Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators eased 0.2% (+4.0% y/y) during September following an unrevised 0.4% August increase. A 0.1% rise had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Three- [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance declined to 222,000 during the week ended October 14 following a decline to 244,000 in the prior week. The Labor Department indicated that insurance applications were "severely disrupted" in [...]

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve reported that its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index for October increased to 27.9 after a rise to 23.8 during September. The figure remained up sharply versus the 2015 low and compared [...]

Japan ran its 24th consecutive surplus on its trade account in September. The three-month moving average of the trade balance is beginning to recover after hovering in the 300 billion yen to 359 billion yen range from mid-2016 to [...]

U.K. unemployment statistics have been pointing to labor market strength for some time. There are various measures of labor market conditions, ranging from several unemployment rate definitions to the claimant count. According to all [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Volume Index rebounded 3.6% (-18.2% y/y) last week, but so far this month was down 3.1% from September. Purchase applications increased 4.2% (8.9% y/y) [...]

Total housing starts declined 4.7% (+6.1% y/y) during September to 1.127 million units from 1.183 million in August, revised from 1.180 million units. It was the lowest level since September 2016. Starts of 1.183 million had been [...]