Archive for October, 2013
Saturday, October 26th, 2013
- Total non-farm payroll employment rose 148 thousand in September, following an increase of 193 thousand in the previous month. Private-sector payrolls increased by 126 thousand in the month, while government employment increased by 22 thousand.
- The unemployment rate decreased to 7.2% in September, from 7.3% in August.
- The average workweek of all employees on private nonfarm payrolls held steady at 34.5 hours.
- Average hourly earnings increased by 3 cents to $24.09 (up 2.1% from the previous year).
- The advance figure for initial claims for unemployment insurance decreased 12 thousand to 356 thousand in the week ending October 19th.
- New orders for manufactured durable goods increased 3.7% in September, while shipments increased 0.2% in September.
- Sales of merchant wholesalers in August were up 0.6% from July, while inventories were up 0.5%.
- In August, international trade deficit was $38.8 billion, $0.2 billion more than the revised July figure.
- The import price index increased 0.2% in September, while export prices increased 0.3%. The import price index decreased 1.0% from September 2012, while export prices decreased 1.6%.
- Construction spending increased 0.6% in August. Private construction increased 0.7%, while public construction increased 0.4%.
- September existing home sales were down 1.9% from the previous month, but were up 10.7% from September 2012, according to the National Association of Realtors. The median sales price of existing houses sold was $199.2 thousand, 11.7% above September 2012.
- U.S. House prices rose 0.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis from July to August, following a 0.8% increase in the previous period, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) monthly House Price Index. For the 12 months ending in August, U.S. prices rose 8.5%. The index is 9.4% below its April 2007 peak and is roughly the same as the April 2005 index level.
- The results of Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey of October 24th showed average fixed mortgage rates hitting their lowest levels since this summer.
- Mortgage applications decreased 0.6% from a week earlier, according to data from Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey for the week ending October 18th.
- The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment dropped to its lowest level since the end of last year.
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Sunday, October 20th, 2013
- Due to government shutdown, there were only a few data releases.
- The advance figure for initial claims for unemployment insurance decreased 15 thousand to 358 thousand in the week ending October 12th.
- The results of Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey of October 17th showed average fixed mortgage rates edging higher. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 4.28% for the week ending October 17, up from last week when it averaged 4.23%.
- Mortgage applications increased 0.3% from a week earlier, according to data from Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey for the week ending October 11th.
- The October 2013 Empire State Manufacturing Survey indicated that business conditions held steady for New York manufacturers.
- The Philadelphia FED business outlook survey for October reported increased manufacturing activity.
- The FED’s “Beige Book” indicated that overall economic activity continued to expand at a modest to moderate pace during the reporting period of September through early October.
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Friday, October 11th, 2013
- Due to government shutdown, there were only a few data releases.
- The advance figure for initial claims for unemployment insurance increased 66 thousand to 374 thousand in the week ending October 5th.
- August consumer credit outstanding increased at an annual rate of 5.4% to $3,036.9 billion. Revolving credits decreased at an annual rate of 1.2%, while non-revolving credits increased 8.0%.
- The results of Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey of October 10th showed average fixed mortgage rates changing little for the week. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 4.23%, up from last week when it averaged 4.22%.
- Mortgage applications increased 1.3% from a week earlier, according to data from Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey for the week ending October 4th.
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Friday, October 4th, 2013
- Due to the lapse in government funding of official data sources, there were only a handful of releases during the week.
- The advance figure for initial claims for unemployment insurance increased a thousand to 308 thousand in the week ending September 28th.
- The results of Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey of October 3rd showed average fixed mortgage decreasing for the third consecutive week. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 4.22% for the week ending October 3, down from last week when it averaged 4.32%.
- Mortgage applications increased 5.5% from a week earlier, according to data from Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey for the week ending September 27th.
- The Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) manufacturing survey indicated that the manufacturing sector expanded in September for the fourth consecutive month, and the overall economy grew for the 52nd consecutive month.
- In September, the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) non-manufacturing survey results indicated growth in the non-manufacturing business activity (exceeded 50.0%) for the 45th consecutive month.
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