- The advance figure for initial claims for unemployment insurance skyrocketed to 3,283 thousand, from 282 thousand, in the week ending March 21. This marks the highest level of seasonally adjusted initial claims in the history of the seasonally adjusted series. The previous high was 695 thousand in October of 1982. The 4-week moving average was 998.25 thousand, an increase of 765.75 thousand from the previous week’s average. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment (ongoing) during the week ending March 14 was 1,803 thousand, an increase of 101 thousand from the previous week’s revised level. This is the highest level for insured unemployment since April 14, 2018 when it was 1,824 thousand. The 4-week moving average was 1,731 thousand, an increase of 27 thousand from the previous week’s revised average.
- The Labor Department stated “During the week ending March 21, the increase in initial claims are due to the impacts of the COVID-19 virus. Nearly every state providing comments cited the COVID-19 virus impacts. States continued to cite services industries broadly, particularly accommodation and food services. Additional industries heavily cited for the increases included the health care and social assistance, arts, entertainment and recreation, transportation and warehousing, and manufacturing industries.”
- Unemployment rates were lower in February in 8 states, higher in 1 state, and stable in 41 states and the District of Columbia, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Eleven states had jobless rate decreases from a year earlier, 1 state had an increase, and 38 states and the District had little or no change. Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 4 states in February 2020 and was essentially unchanged in 46 states and the District of Columbia. Over the year, nonfarm payroll increased in 21 states, decreased in 1 state, and was essentially unchanged in 28 states and the District of Columbia.
- Private non-farm business sector multi-factor productivity increased 0.9% in 2019, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This 2019 increase reflects a 2.7% increase in output and a 1.8% increase in the combined inputs of capital and labor. Capital services grew by 2.9% and labor input–which is the combined effect of hours worked and labor composition–grew by 1.1%. Multi-factor productivity was revised up to an increase of 0.9% in 2018. The 0.9% annual growth of multifactor productivity in the private nonfarm business sector in 2019 is 0.1 percentage point higher than the average annual rate of 0.8% over the 1987-2019 period. For the period 2007-2019, reflecting the most recent business cycle, multifactor productivity grew at an average annual rate of 0.5% as output grew 1.9% and combined inputs rose 1.5%. The average annual increase in combined inputs reflected a 2.3% increase in capital services along with a 0.9% increase in labor input
- Real GDP increased at an annual rate of 2.1% in the fourth quarter of 2019, following a 2.1% increase in the previous quarter, according to the “third” estimate by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the “second” estimate, released a month ago, the increase in real GDP was also 2.1%.
- Real gross domestic income (GDI) increased 2.6% in the fourth quarter, compared with an increase of 1.2% in the third quarter.
- The average of real GDP and real GDI, a supplemental measure of U.S. economic activity that equally weights GDP and GDI, increased 2.4% in the fourth quarter, compared with an increase of 1.7% in the third quarter
- The price index for gross domestic purchases increased 1.4% in the fourth quarter, the same increase as in the third quarter.
- Real GDP increased 2.3% in the year 2019, following an increase of 2.9% in 2018. The price index for gross domestic purchases increased 1.5% in 2019, compared with an increase of 2.4% in 2018.
- Corporate profits from current production increased $53.0 billion in the fourth quarter, after a decrease of $4.7 billion in the previous quarter. Profits of domestic financial corporations increased $0.7 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with a decrease of $4.7 billion in the third quarter. Profits of domestic nonfinancial corporations increased $53.7 billion, compared with a decrease of $5.5 billion. Rest-of-the-world profits decreased $1.4 billion, compared with an increase of $5.5 billion. In the fourth quarter, receipts increased $3.4 billion, and payments increased $4.8 billion. For the year 2019, profits from current production were unchanged, in contrast to an increase of $68.7 billion in 2018.
- Personal income increased 0.6%, in February, the same increase as in the previous month. Disposable personal income increased 0.5% and personal consumption expenditures increased 0.2% in February. The price index for personal consumption expenditures increased 0.1% in February, while the price index excluding food and energy increased 0.2%. The price index for personal consumption expenditures increased 1.8% from February 2019. The index excluding food and energy also increased 1.8% from a year ago.
- State personal income increased 3.0% at an annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2019, after increasing 2.8% in the third quarter, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The percent change in personal income across all states ranged from 4.7% in Michigan to 1.1% in North Dakota. Earnings increased 3.6% nationally and was the leading contributor to growth in personal income in most states. State personal income grew on average 4.4% in the year 2019, after increasing 5.6% in 2018, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Growth of state personal income ranged from 6.1% in Colorado to 2.8% in West Virginia.
- New orders for manufactured durable goods in February increased 1.2%, while shipments increased 0.8%. Year-to date, new orders were up 0.4% and shipments were down 1.1% from the same period a year ago.
- Retail inventories for February were down 0.3% from the previous month and were down 0.6% from a year ago, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
- Wholesale inventories for February were down 0.5% from the previous month and were down 1.0% from a year ago, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
- The international trade deficit of goods was $59.9 billion in February, down $6.0 billion from January. Exports of goods were $136.5 billion in February, $0.7 billion more than January exports. Imports of goods were $196.4 billion, $5.3 billion less than January imports.
- Sales of new single-family houses in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 765 thousand, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 4.4% below the figure for January but is 14.3% above the February 2019 level.
- On March 24th, Freddie Mac in coordination with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced a nationwide relief plan for its Multifamily borrowers and residents of their apartment properties. Under the Freddie Mac program, multifamily landlords whose properties are financed with a Freddie Mac Multifamily fully performing loan can defer their loan payments for 90 days by showing hardship because of COVID-19 and by gaining lender approval. In turn, Freddie Mac is requiring landlords not to evict any tenant based solely on non-payment of rent during the forbearance period. The program can provide relief for up to 4.2 million renters across more than 27 thousand properties.
- The results of Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed average fixed mortgage rates dropped significantly. 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.50% for the week ending March 26, down from last week when it averaged 3.65%. A year-ago at this time, the 30-year fixed-rate averaged 4.06%. 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.92%, down from last week when it averaged 3.06%. A year-ago at this time, the 15-year fixed-rate averaged 3.57%.
- Mortgage applications decreased 29.4% from a week earlier, according to data from Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey for the week ending March 20th.
- The University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment for March was 89.1, down from 101.0 in February. The index was 98.4 in March of 2019. The current economic conditions component was 103.7 in March, compared with 114.8 in February. The index of consumer expectations decreased to 79.7 in March, from 92.1 in February.
This entry was posted on Friday, March 27th, 2020 at 10:36 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.