Key Economic Indicators – December 26, 2016

  • Real GDP increased at an annual rate of 3.5% in the third quarter of 2016, after increasing 1.4% in the previous quarter, according to the “third” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the second estimate, released about a month ago, the increase in real GDP was 3.2%.
  • Real gross domestic income (GDI) increased 4.8% in the third quarter, following a 0.7% increase in the previous quarter. The average of real GDP and real GDI, a supplemental measure of economic activity, increased 4.1% in the third quarter, compared with an increase of 1.1% in the second quarter.
  • Real final sales of domestic product increased 3.0%, following a 2.6% increase in the previous quarter.
  • The price index for gross domestic purchases increased 1.5% in the third quarter, compared to an increase of 2.1% in the previous quarter.  The price index for personal consumption expenditures increased 1.5%, compared with an increase of 2.0%.
  • Corporate profits from current production increased $117.8 billion in the third quarter, after a decrease of $12.5 billion in the previous quarter.
  • Personal income increased less than 0.1% in November, following a 0.5% increase in the previous month. Personal consumption expenditures, which increased 0.4% in October, increased 0.2% in November. The price index for personal consumption expenditures and the core index both held steady in November. The price index (headline index) was up 1.4% from November 2015, while the core index was up 1.6%.
  • State personal income growth was 1.1% on average in the third quarter, compared with an increase of 1.2% in the previous quarter.
  • New orders for manufactured durable goods decreased 4.6% in November, following a 4.8% increase in the previous month. Shipments increased 0.1%, following a 0.1% decrease in the previous month. Year-to-date new orders were down 0.3%, while shipments were down 0.8%.
  • November existing home sales increased 0.7% from the previous month to an annualized rate of 5.61 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors. This represents a 15.4% increase from a year ago. The median sales price of existing houses sold was $234.9 thousand, 6.8% above November 2015. There were 1.85 million existing homes for sale at the end of the month (9.3% lower than a year ago). This represents a supply of 4.0 months at the current sales rate, compared with 4.3 months in October.
  • November new home sales increased 5.2% to an annualized rate of 592 thousand units. The November figure was 16.5% above the November 2015 figure. The median sales price of new houses sold was $305.4 thousand, down 3.7% from a year ago.
  • U.S. House prices rose 0.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis from September to October, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) monthly House Price Index. For the 12 months ending in October, U.S. prices rose 6.1%.
  • The results of Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey of December 22nd showed average fixed mortgage rates moving higher for the eighth consecutive week. 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.30% for the week ending December 22, up from last week when it averaged 4.16%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year fixed-rate averaged 3.96%.
  • Mortgage applications increased 2.5% from a week earlier, according to data from Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey for the week ending December 16th.
  • The advance figure for initial claims for unemployment insurance increased 21 thousand to 275 thousand in the week ending December 17. The 4-week moving average was 263.75 thousand, an increase of 6 thousand from the previous week’s average.
  • Unemployment rates were significantly lower in November in 18 states and stable in 32 states and the District of Columbia, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In November, nonfarm payroll employment increased in 9 states, decreased in 2 states, and was essentially unchanged in 39 states and the District of Columbia.
  • The Conference Board index of leading economic indicators held steady in November, following a 0.1% increase in the previous month. Over the six-month span through November, the leading index increased 1.0% (about a 2.0% annual rate). The coincident index increased 0.1% in November, following a 0.2% increase in the previous month. During the six-month period through November, the coincident index increased 0.6% (about a 1.2% annual rate).
  • The Chicago FED National Activity Index decreased to negative 0.27 in November from negative 0.05 in October. The index’s three-month moving average was negative 0.14, compared with negative 0.20 in October.
  • The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment increased to 98.2 in December, from 93.8 in November. The index was 92.6 a year ago.

Comments are closed.