Archive for October, 2012
Monday, October 29th, 2012
- Real GDP increased at an annual rate of 2.0% in the third quarter of 2012, after increasing at 1.3% in the previous quarter. The price index for gross domestic purchases increased 1.5% in the third quarter, compared to an increase of 0.7% in the previous quarter.
- Personal income increased 0.4%, in September, while personal consumption expenditures increased 0.8%. The price index for personal consumption expenditures (headline index) rose 0.4% in September, while the core index increased 0.1%.
- New orders for manufactured durable goods increased 9.9% in September, while shipments increased 0.8% in September.
- September new home sales increased 5.7% to an annualized rate of 389 thousand units. The median sales price of new houses sold was $242.4 thousand, 11.7% above the September 2011.
- U.S. House prices rose 0.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis from July to August, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) monthly House Price Index. For the 12 months ending in August, U.S. prices rose 4.7%.
- The Pending Home Sales Index, a leading indicator for the housing sector, edged up 0.3% to a reading of 99.5 in September, according to the National Association of Realtors.
- The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 3.41% for the week ending October 25, up from last week when it averaged 3.37%.
- The advance figure for initial claims for unemployment insurance decreased by 23 thousand to 369 thousand in the week ending October 20.
- The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment rose to 82.6 in October, its highest level since September 2007.
- The Federal Open Market Committee decided to keep its target for the federal funds rate at 0 to 0.25%, and indicated that it is anticipated that economic conditions are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate at least through mid-2015.
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Monday, October 22nd, 2012
- Advance estimates of retail and food services sales for September were up 1.1% from August, and were up 5.4% from September 2011.
- Total manufacturing and trade sales for August increased 0.5% from July, while inventories increased 0.6%.
- Total Industrial production increased 0.4% in September, following a 1.4% decrease in the previous month.
- Housing starts surged 15.0% in September, following a 4.1% decrease in the previous month.
- September existing home sales decreased 1.7% to an annualized rate of 4,750 thousand units. The September figure was 11.0% above the September 2011 figure. The median sales price of existing houses sold was $183.9 thousand, 11.3% above September 2011.
- The housing market index of National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and Wells Fargo rose to 41 in October, its highest level since June 2006.
- The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 3.37% for the week ending October 18, down from last week when it averaged 3.39%.
- Treasury International Capital reported net foreign purchases of long-term securities of $78.5 billion in August, compared with net purchases of $60.6 billion in the previous month.
- The consumer price index (headline index) increased 0.6% in September, while the core index increased 0.1%. Both indexes increased 2.0% for the 12-month period ending in September.
- The advance figure for initial claims for unemployment insurance increased by 46 thousand to 388 thousand in the week ending October 13.
- The October Empire State Manufacturing Survey indicated that manufacturing activity in New York State continued to decline for a third consecutive month.
- The Philadelphia FED business outlook survey for October indicated a modest improvement in business activity.
- The Conference Board index of leading economic indicators increased 0.6% in September, while the coincident index increased 0.2%.
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Monday, October 15th, 2012
- In August, the international trade deficit was $44.2 billion, $1.7 billion more than the revised July figure.
- The federal government budget ran a surplus of $75.0 billion in September, after a deficit of $190.5 billion in the previous month. The deficit for the fiscal year 2012 was $1,089.4 billion, compared with a deficit of $1,296.8 billion for the previous fiscal year.
- August consumer credit outstanding increased at an annual rate of 8.0% to $2,725.6 billion.
- The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 3.39% for the week ending October 11, up from last week when it averaged 3.36%.
- The advance figure for initial claims for unemployment insurance decreased by 30 thousand to 339 thousand in the week ending October 6.
- The producer price index for finished goods (headline index) increased 1.1% in September, while the core index held steady. The producer price index for finished goods increased 2.1% from September 2011 to September 2012.
- The import price index increased 1.1% in September, while the export price index increased 0.8%. The import price index decreased 0.2% from September 2011, while the price index for exports decreased 0.5%.
- The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment, preliminary, increased to 83.1 in October from 78.3 in September. This was the highest reading since September 2007.
- The FED’s “Beige Book” indicated that overall economic activity generally expanded modestly since the last report.
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Monday, October 8th, 2012
- Total non-farm payroll employment rose 114 thousand to 133.500 million in September, following an increase of 142 thousand in the previous month. Private-sector payrolls increased 104 thousand in the month, while government employment increased 10 thousand.
- The number of unemployed persons decreased by 456 thousand to 12.088 million. The unemployment rate decreased to 7.8%, from 8.1% in the previous month.
- The average workweek of production and non-supervisory employees held steady at 33.7 hours, while average hourly earnings increased by 5 cents to $19.81.
- The advance figure for initial claims for unemployment insurance increased by 4 thousand to 367 thousand in the week ending September 29.
- Sales of domestic cars decreased 1.0% in September, while total light vehicle (cars and light trucks) sales increased 2.8%. Total sales were 14.879 million units in September, at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, compared to 13.093 million in September of 2011.
- New orders for manufactured goods (excluding semiconductors) decreased 5.2% in August, while shipments decreased 0.3%.
- August construction spending decreased 0.6% to $837.1 billion, seasonally adjusted annual rate, following a 0.4% decrease in the previous month.
- The 30-year fixed mortgage rate decreased to all-time record low of 3.36% for the week ending October 4.
- The Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) manufacturing survey indicated that the manufacturing sector expanded in September following three consecutive months of slight contraction, and the overall economy grew for the 40th consecutive month.
- In September, the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) non-manufacturing survey results indicated growth in the non-manufacturing business activity for the 33rd consecutive month.
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Monday, October 1st, 2012
- Real GDP increased at an annual rate of 1.3% in the second quarter of 2012, after increasing 2.0% in the previous quarter. In the second estimate, released a month ago, the increase in real GDP was 1.7%. The price index for gross domestic purchases increased 0.7% in the second quarter, compared to an increase of 2.5% in the previous quarter.
- Corporate profits from current production increased $21.8 billion in the second quarter, after a decrease of $53.0 billion in the previous quarter.
- Personal income 0.1% in August, while personal consumption expenditures increased 0.5%. The price index for personal consumption expenditures, which held steady in July, rose 0.4% in August. The price index (headline index) was up 1.5% from August 2011.
- New orders for manufactured durable goods decreased 13.2% in August, while shipments decreased 3.0%
- August new home sales decreased 0.3% to an annualized rate of 373 thousand units. The median sales price of new houses sold was $256.9 thousand, 17.0% above the August 2011 figure.
- U.S. House prices rose 0.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis from June to July, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) monthly House Price Index. For the 12 months ending in July, U.S. prices rose 3.7%.
- The S & P/Case-Shiller National U.S. Home Price Index posted annual increases of 0.6% and 1.2% in July, for the 10-city and 20-city composite indices, respectively.
- The Pending Home Sales Index, a leading indicator for the housing sector, decreased 2.6% to a reading of 99.2 in August, according to the National Association of Realtors.
- The 30-year fixed mortgage rate decreased to all-time record low of 3.40% for the week ending September 27.
- The advance figure for initial claims for unemployment insurance decreased by 26 thousand to 359 thousand in the week ending September 22.
- The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index, which had declined in August, improved in September.
- The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment rose to 78.3 in September from 74.3 in August, the highest level since May.
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