- Advance estimates of retail and food services sales for November were up 0.3% from October, and were up 3.7% from November 2011.
- Sales of merchant wholesalers in October were down 1.2%, while inventories were up 0.6%.
- Total manufacturing and trade sales decreased 0.4% in October, while inventories increased 0.4%.
- Total Industrial production increased 1.1% in November, following a 0.7% decrease in the previous month.
- The federal government budget ran a deficit of $172.1 billion in November, after a deficit of $120.0 billion in the previous month.
- In October international trade deficit was $42.2 billion, $1.9 billion more than the revised September figure.
- The import price index decreased 0.9% in November, while the export price index decreased 0.7%. The overall import price index decreased 1.6% from November 2011 while export prices increased 0.7%.
- The producer price index for finished goods (headline index) decreased 0.8% in November, while the core index increased 0.1%. The producer price index for finished goods increased 1.5% from November 2011 to November 2012.
- The consumer price index (headline index) decreased 0.3% in November, while the core index increased 0.1%. The consumer price index increased 1.8% for the 12-month period ending in November, while the core index rose 1.9%.
- The advance figure for initial claims for unemployment insurance decreased by 29 thousand to 343 thousand in the week ending December 8.
- Real average hourly earnings for all employees increased 0.5% from October to November.
- The results of Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed fixed mortgage rates easing slightly and remaining near record lows. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 3.32% for the week ending December 13, down from last week when it averaged 3.34%.
- Mortgage applications increased 6.2% from a week earlier, according to data from Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey for the week ending December 7, 2012.
- The Federal Open Market Committee decided to keep its target for the federal funds rate at 0 to 0.25%, and indicated that this exceptionally low range for the federal funds rate will be appropriate at least as long as the unemployment rate remains above 6.5%.
This entry was posted on Monday, December 17th, 2012 at 11:10 AM and is filed under Key Economic Indicators. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.