Key Economic Indicators – October 20, 2014

  • Advance estimates of retail and food services sales for September were down 0.3% from the previous month, but were up 4.3% from September 2013.
  • Total manufacturing and trade sales for August were down 0.4%, while inventories were up 0.2%.
  • Total Industrial production increased 1.0% in September, following a 0.2% decrease in the previous month. The rate of capacity utilization was 79.3%, compared with 78.7 in the previous month.
  • Housing starts were up 6.3% in September, following a 12.8% decrease in the previous month. Building permits for September were up 1.5% from the previous month, and were up 2.5% from September 2013.
  • After four consecutive monthly gains, the housing market index of National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and Wells Fargo decreased 5 points to 54 in October.
  • The results of Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey of October 16th showed average fixed mortgage rates hitting new lows for the year. At 3.97% the average 30-year fixed rate is at its lowest level since the week of June 20, 2013 when it averaged 3.93%.
  • Mortgage applications increased 5.6% from a week earlier, according to data from Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey for the week ending October 10th.
  • The producer price index for final demand, which held steady in August, decreased 0.1% in September. The core index increased 0.2% in September. The producer price index for final demand increased 1.6% from September 2013 to September 2014.
  • The advance figure for initial claims for unemployment insurance decreased 23 thousand to 264 thousand in the week ending October 11th. The 4-week moving average was 283.5 thousand, a decrease of 4.25 thousand from the previous week’s unrevised average of 287.75 thousand.
  • The October 2014 Empire State Manufacturing Survey indicated that business activity grew modestly for New York manufacturers.
  • The Philadelphia FED business outlook survey for October indicated continued growth in the region’s manufacturing sector.
  • The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment, preliminary, for October was 86.4, the highest level since July 2007.
  • The FED’s “Beige Book” indicated that overall economic activity continued to increase at a moderate pace.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.