- Advance estimates of retail and food services sales for February were down 0.6% from January, but were up 1.7% from February 2014. Excluding motor vehicle & parts, sales were down 0.1% from the previous month, but were up 0.8% from a year ago,
- Total manufacturing and trade sales for January were down 2.0% from the previous month, and were down 0.3% from January 2014. Total business inventories were down less than 0.1% from the previous month, but were up 3.4% from a year ago. The inventories/sales ratio was 1.44, compared to 1.45 in January of 2014.
- Sales of merchant wholesalers in January were down 3.1%, while inventories were up 0.3%. The inventories/sales ratio was 1.27, compared with 1.22 in the previous month and 1.18 in January of 2014.
- The federal government budget ran a deficit of $192.3 billion in February, after a deficit of $17.5 billion in the previous month. The cumulative deficit for the first five months of fiscal year 2015 was $386.5 billion, $9.9 billion more than the deficit for the same period of the previous fiscal year.
- The producer price index for final demand (headline index) decreased 0.5% in February, following a decrease of 0.8% in the previous month. The index for final demand goods was down for the eighth consecutive month. The index for final demand services was down 0.5% in February, the largest decline since the inceptions of the index in December 2009. The core index decreased 0.1%, following a 0.2% decrease in the previous month. The producer price index for final demand was down 0.6% from February 2014 to February 2015.
- The index for processed goods for intermediate demand fell 0.6% in February, the seventh straight decline. The index for unprocessed goods for intermediate demand fell 3.9% in February, the fifth straight decline. The index for services for intermediate demand increased 0.1%, following a 0.2% decrease in the previous month. The index for processed goods for intermediate demand was down 6.4% from February 2014 to February 2015, while the index for unprocessed goods for intermediate demand was down 25.0%. The index for services for intermediate demand was up 1.2% during the same period.
- The import price index increased 0.4% in February, following a 3.1% decrease in the previous month. An upturn in fuel prices led the February rise. The export price index edged down 0.1% in February, following a 1.9% decrease in the previous month. The import price index decreased 9.4% from February 2014, while export prices decreased 5.9%.
- The advance figure for initial claims for unemployment insurance decreased 36 thousand to 289 thousand in the week ending March 7. The 4-week moving average was 302.25 thousand, a decrease of 3.75 thousand from the previous week’s revised average. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending February 28 was 2,418 thousand, a decrease of 5 thousand from the previous week’s revised level.
- There were 5.0 million job openings on the last business day of January, little changed from 4.9 million in December, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This was the highest level of job openings since January 2001. The job openings rate for January was 3.4%.
- The results of Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed average fixed mortgage rates moving higher. 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.86% for the week ending March 12, up from last week when it averaged 3.75%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year fixed-rate averaged 4.37%. 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.10% for the week ending March 12, up from last week when it averaged 3.03%.
- Mortgage applications decreased 1.3% from a week earlier, according to data from Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey for the week ending March 6th.
- The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment, preliminary, for March decreased to 91.2.
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