Key Economic Indicators – November 23, 2015

  • Total Industrial production decreased 0.2% in October for the second consecutive month. Total industrial production in October was 0.3% above its level a year earlier. The rate of capacity utilization decreased 0.2 percentage point to 77.5%, 2.6 percentage points below its 1972-2014 average.
  • Housing starts in October were down 11.0% from the previous month, and were down 1.8% from October 2014. Building permits in October were up 4.1% from September, and were up 2.7% from a year ago.
  • The housing market index of National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and Wells Fargo decreased 3 points to 62 in November. The index was 58 in November 2014 and 57 in January 2015.
  • The results of Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey of November 19th showed average fixed mortgage rates largely unchanged from the previous week. 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.97% for the week ending November 19th, down from last week when it averaged 3.98%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year fixed-rate averaged 3.99%.
  • Mortgage applications increased 6.2% from a week earlier, according to data from Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey for the week ending November 13th.
  • The consumer price index increased 0.2% in October, following a 0.2% decrease in the previous month. The core index increased 0.2%, the same increase as in the previous month. The consumer price index increased 0.2% for the 12-month period ending in October, while the core index rose 1.9%.
  • The advance figure for initial claims for unemployment insurance decreased 5 thousand to 271 thousand in the week ending November 14. The 4-week moving average was 270.75 thousand, an increase of 3 thousand from the previous week’s average.
  • Real average hourly earnings for all employees rose 0.2% from September to October. This result stems from 0.4% increase in average hourly earnings, combined with a 0.2% increase in the consumer price index.
  • The November 2015 Empire State Manufacturing Survey indicated that business activity declined for a fourth consecutive month for New York manufacturers.
  • The Philadelphia FED business outlook survey indicated that regional manufacturing activity showed slight improvement in November.
  • The Conference Board’s leading economic index increased 0.6% in October, following a 0.1% decrease in the previous month. The coincident index increased 0.2%, following a 0.1% in the previous month. Over the six-month span through October, the leading index increased 1.6% with seven out of ten components advancing, while the coincident index increased 0.9% with all four components advancing.

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