Economy in Brief

Initial claims for unemployment insurance increased to 379,000 last week (3.6% y/y) following 369,000 claims during the week ended December 7, revised from 368,000. The rise contrasts with consensus expectations for a decline to [...]

The index of Leading Economic Indicators, published by the Conference Board, was up 0.8% during November (5.2% y/y). That followed a modest 0.1% in October and was firmer than the 0.7% expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. [...]

At today's meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee the Fed elected to begin reducing, in January, its purchases of agency mortgage-backed and Treasury securities to $75 billion per month from $85 billion per month. The Fed [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that their total mortgage market index dropped 5.5% last week (-54.1% y/y) to the lowest level since late-2008. Home purchase mortgage applications dropped 6.1% last week (-11.8% y/y). [...]

Housing starts during November surged 22.7% to 1.091 million (29.6% y/y) on top of a 1.8% October gain to 889,000. The latest level beat expectations for 965,000 starts in the Action Economics survey. Starts of single-family homes [...]

Sales at chain stores were vigorous last week. The International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs reported that chain store sales recovered 4.8% (2.0% y/y) last week to the highest level since mid-July. The rise follows a [...]

The price for a gallon of regular gasoline prices fell to $3.24 (-2.4% y/y) last week and remained versus the $3.78 per gallon peak reached late in February. Much of the decline reflects less driving this time of year. Haver Analytics [...]

The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders-Wells Fargo jumped four points to 58 this month and landed at the highest level since the economic expansion began. This latest figure was stronger than [...]