Economy in Brief: November 2019

The one point of crystal clear clarity on the issue of trade is that trade flows are slowing down. One –sometimes exception is for nonmanufacturing goods where commodity prices are playing a role rather than stronger trends in [...]

The National Association of Realtors reported that its Fixed Rate Mortgage Housing Affordability Index rose 2.8% to 164.3 during September (11.5% y/y), the fourth consecutive month of increase. Despite the rise, affordability remained [...]

Total business inventories held steady during September (3.7% y/y) following a 0.1% August dip, revised from 0.0%. Total business sales weakened 0.2% (+0.5% y/y) after a 0.1% uptick, revised from 0.2%. The inventory-to-sales (I/S) [...]

Industrial production fell a more-than-expected 0.8% m/m (-1.1% y/y) in October on top of a slightly upwardly revised 0.3% m/m decline in September. This was the third monthly decline in the past four months and the weakest monthly [...]

Total retail sales increased 0.3% (3.1% y/y) during October following an unrevised 0.3% September decline. A 0.2% October gain had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Retail sales excluding motor vehicles & parts [...]

The Empire State Manufacturing Index of General Business Conditions edged down to 2.9 in November from 4.0 in October. An increase to 5.0 had been expected by the Action Economics Forecast Survey. This means that activity continued to [...]

Import prices fell a greater-than-expected 0.5% during October (-3.0% year-on-year), following a downwardly revised 0.1% gain in September (was 0.2%). The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected a 0.4% decline in October. These [...]

Initial applications for unemployment insurance fell to 211,000 (-4.3% y/y) during the week ended November 2.......... Continuing claims for unemployment insurance slipped to 1.689 million during the week ended October 26.......... In [...]