Key Economic Indicators – January 14, 2013

  • Sales of domestic cars decreased 0.7% in December, while total light vehicle (cars and light trucks) sales decreased 1.0%. Total light vehicle sales in the year 2012 were 14.432 million units, compared with 12.733 million in 2011.
  • Sales of merchant wholesalers in November were up 2.3%, while inventories were up 0.6%.
  • In November international trade deficit was $48.7 billion, $6.6 billion more than the revised October figure.
  • The import price index in December was down 0.1% from November, and was down 1.5% from December of 2011. The export price index was down 0.1% from November, but was up 1.1% from December of 2011.
  • November consumer credit outstanding increased at an annual rate of 7.0% to $2,768.5 billion.
  • The results of Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed fixed mortgage rates moving higher following December’s employment report. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 3.40% for the week ending January 10, 3013, up from last week when it averaged 3.34%.
  • Mortgage applications increased 11.7% from a week earlier week, according to data from Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey for the week ending January 4, 2013.
  • The advance figure for initial claims for unemployment insurance increased by 4 thousand to 371 thousand in the week ending January 5.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.