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- Georgia: Money Transfers (Nov)
- Spain: Lending to Credit Institutions (Nov), Debt by Region (Oct)
- Germany: Wholesale Trade Prices, Bremen State CPI (Nov), Bundesbank Economic Projections (2021)
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Economy in Brief
U.S. Government Budget Deficit Surges Unexpectedly
The U.S. Treasury Department reported that the federal government ran a $204.9 billion budget deficit during November...
U.S. Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims Decline
Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to 206,000 (-7.6% y/y) during the week ended December 8...
EMU Inflation Falls Back Into Place
The ECB targets inflation of just under 2%...
U.S. CPI Is Unchanged; Core Prices Increase Steadily
The Consumer Price Index held steady during November (2.2% y/y)...
U.S. Mortgage Loan Applications Post Another Strong Increase
The MBA total Mortgage Applications Index rose 1.6% (-13.2% y/y) during the week ended December 7...
by Tom Moeller September 20, 2005
Housing starts slipped 1.3% last month to 2.009M units versus a downwardly revised 2.035M units in July.The drop outpaced Consensus expectations for a decline to 2.025M starts.
Single-family starts inched 0.1% higher in this last report taken before Hurricane Katrina hit the US Gulf Coast. The rise was due to higher single family starts in the Northeast (1.5% y/y) and in the West (6.1% y/y). Single family starts in the South fell m/m (+1.4% y/y) and in the Midwest (-6.5% y/y).
Yesterday's report from the Nat'l Association of Home Builders (NAHB) indicated slippage in their composite September index (-3.0% y/y) due to weaker current sales, weaker sales prospects and sharply lower buyer traffic. During the last twenty years there has been a 76% correlation between the y/y change in the NAHB index and the change in single family housing starts.
Multi family starts fell a sharp 8.5% m/m while building permits fell as well.
Assessing High House Prices: Bubbles, Fundamentals, and Misconceptions from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York can be found here.
| Housing Starts (000s, AR) | Aug | July | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 2,009 | 2,035 | -0.8% | 1,950 | 1,854 | 1,7 10 |
| Single-family | 1,709 | 1,707 | 1.2% | 1,604 | 1,505 | 1,363 |
| Multi-family | 300 | 328 | -10.7% | 345 | 349 | 347 |
| Building Permits | 2,124 | 2,171 | 3.2% | 2,058 | 1,8 88 | 1,749 |
