Key Economic Indicators – July 21, 2014

  • Advance estimates of retail and food services sales increased 0.2% in June, following a 0.5% increase in the previous month.
  • Total manufacturing and trade sales for May were up 0.4%, while inventories were up 0.5%.
  • Total Industrial production increased 0.2% in June. The rate of capacity utilization for total industry was 79.1%.
  • Housing starts decreased 9.3% in June, while building permits decreased 4.2%. The total number of starts was 893 thousand in June, up 7.5% from a year ago.
  • The housing market index of National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and Wells Fargo increased 4 points to 53 in July.
  • The results of Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey of July 17th showed average fixed mortgage rates decreasing slightly from the previous week.
  • Mortgage applications decreased 3.6% from a week earlier, according to data from Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey for the week ending July 11th.
  • The advance figure for initial claims for unemployment insurance decreased 3 thousand to 302 thousand in the week ending July 12.
  • The producer price index for final goods (headline index) increased 0.4% in June, while the core index increased 0.2%. The producer price index for final goods increased 1.9% from June 2013 to June 2014, while the core index increased 1.7%
  • The import price index increased 0.1% in June, while the export price index decreased 0.4%. The import price index increased 1.2% from June 2013, while export prices increased 0.2%.
  • The July 2014 Empire State Manufacturing Survey indicated that business activity accelerated for New York manufacturers.
  • The Philadelphia FED business outlook survey for July reported growth in manufacturing activity.
  • The FED’s “Beige Book” indicated that overall economic activity continued to expand modestly across most regions and sectors.
  • The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment, preliminary, decreased to 81.3 in early July.

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