- Advance estimates of retail and food services sales for December were up 0.6% from November, and were up 4.1% from December 2015. Total sales for the year 2016 were up 3.3% from the year 2015.
- Total manufacturing and trade sales for November were up 0.1% from October, and were up 2.3% from November 2015. Inventories were up 0.7% from the previous month, and were up 1.5% from a year ago.
- Sales of merchant wholesalers in November were up 0.4% from the previous month, and were up 3.4% from the November 2015 level. Total inventories were up 1.0% from October, and were up 1.4% from November 2015.
- The federal government budget ran a deficit of $27.5 billion in December, after a deficit of $136.7 billion in the previous month. The cumulative deficit for the first three months of the fiscal year 2017 was $208.4 billion, compared with the deficit of $215.6 billion for the first three months of the previous fiscal year.
- The advance figure for initial claims for unemployment insurance increased by 10 thousand to 247 thousand in the week ending January 7. The 4-week moving average was 256.5 thousand, a decrease of 1.75 thousand from the previous week’s revised average.
- The number of job openings was little changed at 5.5 million on the last business day of November, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Over the month, hires and separations were also little changed at 5.2 million and 5.0 million, respectively.
- The labor Market Conditions Index constructed by the Federal Reserve was negative 0.3 in December. This was the first negative figure since May of 2016. The index was 2.1 in November of 2016, and 2.4 in December of 2015.
- The producer price index for final demand (headline index) increased 0.3% in December, following a 0.4% increase in the previous month, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The core index, final demand less foods and energy, increased 0.2% in December, after a 0.4% increase in the previous month. Both the headline index and the core index increased 1.6% from December 2015 to December 2016.
- The import price index in December was up 0.4% from November, and was up 1.5% from December of 2016. The export price index was up 0.3% from November, and was up 1.1% from December of 2015.
- November consumer credit outstanding increased at an annual rate of 7.9% to $3,750.0 billion. Revolving credit increased at an annual rate of 13.5%, while non-revolving credit increased 5.9%.
- The results of Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed fixed mortgage rates falling for the second time since November. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 4.12% for the week ending January 12, down from last week when it averaged 4.20%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year fixed rate averaged 3.92%.
- Mortgage applications increased 5.8% from a week earlier week, according to data from Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey for the week ending January 6, 2017.
- The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment, preliminary, was 98.1 in early January, virtually unchanged from the final reading for December (98.2). The index was 92.0 in January of 2016.
This entry was posted on Friday, January 13th, 2017 at 10:20 AM and is filed under Key Economic Indicators. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.