Key Economic Indicators – February 10, 2014

  • Total non-farm payroll employment increased 113 thousand in January, following an increase of 75 thousand in the previous month.   Private-sector payrolls increased by 142 thousand in the month, while government employment decreased by 29 thousand.
  • The unemployment rate decreased to 6.6% in January, from 6.7% in the previous month.
  • The average workweek of all employees on private nonfarm payrolls held steady at 34.4 hours. Average hourly earnings increased by 0.2%.
  • The advance figure for initial claims for unemployment insurance decreased 20 thousand to 331 thousand in the week ending February 1.
  • Sales of domestic vehicles increased to an annualized rate of 12.1 million, while total vehicle sales decreased to 15.2 million.
  • In December, international trade deficit was $38.7 billion, compared with a deficit of $34.6 billion in the previous month.
  • December consumer credit surged to $18.8 billion.
  • Construction spending rose 0.1% in December, following a 0.8% in the previous month. Total construction spending was up 5.3% from a year ago.
  • The results of Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey of February 6th showed average fixed mortgage rates moving lower.
  • Mortgage applications increased 0.4% from a week earlier, according to data from Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey for the week ending January 31.

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