Key Economic Indicators – August 21, 2017

·      Advance estimates of retail and food services sales for July were up 0.6% from the previous month, and were up 4.2% from July 2016. Year-to-date, retail sales were up 3.9% from the same period a year ago.

·      Total manufacturing and trade sales for June were up 0.3%, while inventories were up 0.6%. The total business inventories/sales ratio at the end of June was 1.38, compared with 1.40 in June 2016.

·      Total Industrial production increased 0.2% in July, following a 0.4% increase in the previous month. The index of industrial production in July was 2.2% above its year-ago level. The rate of capacity utilization for total industry was 76.7%, 3.2 percentage points below its 1972-2016 average, but 0.8 percentage point above its level in July 2016.

·      Housing starts in July were down 4.8% from the previous month, and were down 5.6% from a year ago. Building permits were down down 4.1% from the previous month, but were up 4.1% from July 2016.

·      The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo National Housing Market Index (HMI) increased 4 points to 68 in August. The Index was 67 in January, and 59 a year ago.

·      The results of Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed average fixed mortgage rates little changed and remained at low levels. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 3.89% for the week ending August 17, down from last week when it averaged 3.90%. A year ago at this time, 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 3.43%. The 15-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 3.16%, down from last week when it averaged 3.18%. A year ago at this time, 15-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 2.74%.

·      Mortgage applications increased 0.1% from a week earlier, according to data from Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey for the week ending August 11th.

·      The advance figure for initial claims for unemployment insurance was 232 thousand in the week ending August 12, a decrease of 12 thousand from the previous week’s level. The 4-week moving average was 240.5 thousand, a decrease of 0.5 thousand from the previous week’s average.

·      The import price index increased 0.1% in July, while the export price index increased 0.4%. The import price index increased 1.5% from July 2016, while export prices increased 0.8%.

·      The August 2017 Empire State Manufacturing Survey indicated that business activity grew strongly for New York manufacturers.

·      The Philadelphia FED business outlook survey for August reported growth in manufacturing activity.

·      The Conference Board index of leading economic indicators increased 0.3% in July, following a 0.6%. The coincident index increased 0.3%, following a 0.1% in the previous month.

·      The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment climbed to its highest level since January. The Index was 97.6 in early August, up from 93.4 in July, and 89.8 in August 2016.

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