Consumer Spending up 0.1% in February
Mar 31, 8:51 AM EST |
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| U.S. consumer spending advanced 0.1% in February, the Commerce Department announced. |
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| Incomes increased 0.3%. Prices remained unchanged, while core inflation advanced 0.1%. The savings rate stayed negative 0.5%.Disposable personal income advanced 0.2 %, in February, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said. Personal consumption expenditures increased 0.1 %., Personal income rose 0.7 % in January. |
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Jobless Claims Decline by 10,000
Mar 30, 9:07 AM EST |
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| Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell by 10,000 to 302,000 in the week ending March 25, the government report said. |
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| It is down from the previous week’s revised 312,000 and is the lowest since Feb. 18. The four-week moving average of dropped by 1,500 to 310,750, the department stated. The number of people who to collect unemployment benefits advanced by 20,000 to 2.483 million in the week ending March 18. The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending March 18 were in Wisconsin, while the largest decreases were in California. |
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GDP Revised up to 1.7%
Mar 30, 8:50 AM EST |
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| The U.S. economy was stronger in the fourth quarter than it was thought, but inflation was higher as well, the Commerce Department said. |
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| U.S. real gross domestic product advanced at a 1.7% annualized rate, compared with the earlier estimate of 1.6% and an original estimate of 1.1%, the government report shows. It was the final estimate of quarterly growth. The revision was as expected by analysts. The economy grew 4.1% in the third quarter. |
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Gasoline Inventories Fall
Mar 30, 5:44 AM EST |
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| The U.S. Energy Department stated that gasoline inventories dropped by 5.4 million barrels last week to 216.2 million barrels. |
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| That was about even with year ago levels. The agency also announced that motor gasoline demand averaged 9.1 million barrels a day over the last four weeks, which is 1.3 % above year-ago levels. Inventories of distillate fuel, fell by 2.5 million barrels to 124.2 million barrels, but that was 15.4 % higher than last year. U.S. crude inventories advanced by 2.1 million barrels to 340.7 million barrels, or 8.2 % higher than last year. |
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Tough Talk on Inflation
Mar 29, 6:09 AM EST |
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| Under the its new leadership, FOMC unanimously voted to increase rates for the 15th straight time to 4.75%. |
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| In the first policy statement under its new chairman, the Fed''''s tough talk about inflationary pressures reached beyond the high cost of energy and incorporated other commodities. Analysts consider that this language would give the FOMC all the maneuvering room it needs to either hold rates at current levels or trigger another increase in May at its next scheduled meeting. |
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Consumer Confidence Improves
Mar 29, 6:06 AM EST |
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| U.S. consumer confidence improved in March, advancing to the most optimistic since May 2002, the Conference Board announced. |
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| The consumer confidence index increased to 107.2 from an upwardly revised 102.7 in February, in spite of higher gasoline prices. Analysts hoped for a reading of 101.8. The present situation index advanced to 133.3 from 130.3, the highest since August 2001. The expectations index advanced to 89.9 from 84.2. The status of the present situation index could mean that the economy is gaining momentum in early 2006. |
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New Home Sales Fall in February
Mar 27, 5:40 AM EST |
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| New home sales in the US dropped 10.5% to its lowest level since May 2003, the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development said. |
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| The number of new homes on the market rose 4.4% to a record 548,000, representing a 6.3 months supply. The months supply is the biggest in a decade. Analysts were waiting for a small drop to about 1.21 million. The sharp fall in home sales may be confirmation to some analysts that the higher mortgage rates may bring an abrupt end to what may be seen as a bubble in housing, with prices higher than justified by fundamentals. |
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Aircraft Powers Durables
Mar 24, 9:08 AM EST |
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| Durable goods orders placed with U.S. factories were boosted by civilian aircraft and defense goods orders, the Commerce Department reported. |
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| Total durable goods orders advanced 2.6% in February. It was the fourth rise in the last five months and the largest gain since November. The rise was bigger than economists had forecast. Analysts were anticipating durable goods orders to increase 1.5% in February. Orders in January were revised to an 8.9% decline from 9.9% previously estimated. |
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Existing Home Sales Advance 5.2% in February
Mar 24, 6:27 AM EST |
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| Existing home sales surprisingly rose 5.2% in February to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 6.91 million after declinig five months in a row. |
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| The National Association of Realtors also said that the housing market is still expected to soften in coming months. Economists were anticipating sales of about 6.52 million. The upsurge in sales in February was most probably owing to warmer-than-usual weather in January, when sales that were closed in February were initiated. Existing home sales were revised upwards in January to 6.57 million from 6.56 million estimated before. |
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Initial Claims Fall by 11,000
Mar 23, 8:54 AM EST |
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| Jobless claims for state unemployment benefits declined by 11,000 to 302,000 in the week ending March 18, according to the Labor Department. |
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| First-time claims dropped from a revised 313,000 and are the lowest since Feb. 24. The four-week moving average of new claims advanced by 6,000 to 303,500, the department added. The number of people continuing to collect unemployment benefits, advanced by 38,000 to 2.472 million, the lowest since Feb. 25. The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending March 4 were in New York, while the largest decreases were in Massachusetts. |
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