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Economy in Brief
U.S. Index of Leading Indicators Fell in April
Five of the index's components fell in April, one was unchanged and four increased...
U.S. Unemployment Claims Rose in the Latest Week
The state insured rates of unemployment in regular programs vary widely...
U.S. Housing Starts Dip in April but Remain Elevated
The pattern of housing construction activity seems to be shifting toward multifamily...
U.S. Mortgage Applications Continued to Slide Amid Higher Rates
The biggest declines have been in refinancing activity, while applications for purchase are just starting to crack...
UK Inflation Jumps
Inflation is at the highest rate since the series began in January of 1989...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
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Peak Inflation & Fed Policy: A Relationship Which Should Worry The Fed And Scare Investors
Why Have the Yields on TIPS Been Negative in the Past Two Years?
by Tom Moeller December 18, 2018
Total housing starts rose 3.2% (-3.6% y/y) during November to 1.256 million (AR) from 1.217 million in October, revised from 1.228 million. The level exceeded expectations for 1.230 million starts in the Action Economics Forecast Survey.
A 22.4% rise (21.7% y/y) in starts of multi-family units to 432,000 accounted for last month's gain in the total. It followed a 1.4% decline. Starts of single-family units fell 4.6% (-13.1% y/y) to 824,000, down for the third straight month.
Last month's increase in total starts reflected a roughly one-third improvement, both m/m and y/y, in the Northeast to 124,000 units from 90,000. Starts in the South rose 15.1% (1.3% y/y) to 687,000, an 11-year high. Countering these increases was a 19.2% decline (-12.4% y/y) in the Midwest to 156,000, which more-than-reversed the rise during October. Housing starts in the West fell 14.2% (-18.4% y/y) to 289,000, the lowest level since July.
Building permits increased 5.0% (0.4% y/y) to 1.328 million after a 0.4% slip. Single-family permits edged 0.1% higher (-1.9% y/y) to 848,000 following a 0.8% decline. Permits to build multi-family homes jumped 14.8% (4.6% y/y) to 480,000 after a 0.5% rise.
The housing starts and permits figures can be found in Haver's USECON database. The expectations figure is contained in the AS1REPNA database.
Housing Starts (000s, SAAR) | Nov | Oct | Sep | Nov Y/Y % | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 1,256 | 1,217 | 1,237 | -3.6 | 1,208 | 1,177 | 1,107 |
Single-Family | 824 | 864 | 879 | -13.1 | 852 | 785 | 713 |
Multi-Family | 432 | 353 | 358 | 21.7 | 356 | 393 | 394 |
Starts By Region | |||||||
Northeast | 124 | 90 | 141 | 33.3 | 111 | 116 | 135 |
Midwest | 156 | 193 | 171 | -12.4 | 180 | 185 | 150 |
South | 687 | 597 | 568 | 1.3 | 603 | 585 | 557 |
West | 289 | 337 | 357 | -18.4 | 314 | 292 | 265 |
Building Permits | 1,328 | 1,265 | 1,270 | 0.4 | 1,286 | 1,206 | 1,178 |