Consumer spending up 0.9%
Jan 30, 8:48 AM EST |
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| U.S. consumer spending rose 0.9% in December on spending on durable goods, according to the Department of Commerce. |
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| Personal incomes advanced 0.4% in December. Real disposable incomes also advanced 0.4%. The figures were roughly matching analysts’ expectations. Inflationary pressures eased and the core personal consumption expenditure price index rose 0.1% in December after 0.2% gains the previous four months. |
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GDP Decelerates to 1.1%
Jan 27, 8:50 AM EST |
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| U.S. economy growth slowed down to a 1.1% annual rate in the latest quarter, the Commerce Department said. |
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| The slowdown in real GDP from 4.1% in the third quarter to 1.1% in the fourth quarter was largely on account of poor auto sales, slower business investment, an increase in imports and a large drop in federal spending. Inventory building powered the growth in the quarter. Absent inventories, final sales shed 0.3%, the first drop since the final quarter of recession in 2001. |
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Jobless Claims up 11,000
Jan 26, 8:59 AM EST |
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| First-time claims for state unemployment benefits rose 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 283,000 in the week ended Jan. 21. |
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| The Labor Department announced that the four-week average of new claims fell, down by 10,750 to 288,750 last week. The number of workers receiving unemployment benefits increased, to 2.58 million, up by 53,000. The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Jan. 14 were in Florida, while the largest decreases were in New York. |
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Durable Goods up 1.3%
Jan 26, 8:50 AM EST |
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| Orders for U.S.-made durable goods advanced 1.3% in December despite a large drop in aircraft orders. |
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| The Commerce Department announced that November''s orders were revised higher by a full percentage point to 5.4%. Shipments of durable increased by 3.5% in December, the biggest rise in a year. Core capital goods orders increased by 3.5% in December. |
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Unexpected Decline in Crude Inventories
Jan 26, 6:36 AM EST |
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| Department of Energy said that in the week ended Jan. 20, commercial crude oil reserve fell by 2.3 million barrels to 319.1 million. |
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| U.S. commercial crude oil inventories declined last week but stockpiles of gasoline and distillate fuel posted gained, the Department said in its weekly petroleum supply report. Supplies of distillate products, including diesel and heating oil, rose by 1.8 million barrels to 136.5 million, or 11 % higher than year-ago levels. |
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5.7% Decline in Existing Home Sales
Jan 26, 6:21 AM EST |
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| Sales of existing homes in the U.S. dropped 5.7% in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.60 million, the lowest in nearly two years. |
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| Sales were much weaker than the 6.89 million expected by analysts. Sales in November were revised up to 7.00 million from 6.97 million reported earlier. The housing sector is slowing but not entirely collapsing. It will no longer be the source of strength in 2006. |
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Modest Rise in Leading Indicators
Jan 24, 11:56 AM EST |
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| The index of leading economic indicators advanced 0.1% in December, the Conference Board announced. |
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| The rise follows two strong monthly gains. The rise in December was slightly below expectations. The analysts’ forecasts had been for growth of 0.2% in December. The coincident index, which measures current economic activity, advanced 0.2% in December. The index has been going up since April 2003, but its growth rate has moderated since June. |
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January Consumer Sentiment Rises
Jan 23, 6:54 AM EST |
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| U.S. consumers' sentiment rose in January, according to the report released by the University of Michigan. |
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| The consumer sentiment index advanced to a reading of 93.4 from 91.5 in December. This marked the third straight monthly increase after confidence dropped in the wake of two deadly hurricanes that struck the Gulf Coast region. The increase was above the analysts’ forecasts , who had expected monthly sentiment to edge higher to 92.6. |
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Crude Inventories Climb by 2.7 Million Barrels
Jan 20, 6:41 AM EST |
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| Crude oil inventories increased by 2.7 million barrels in the week ended Jan. 13, despite forecasts for a decline of 400,000 barrels. |
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| Crude for February delivery settled up $1.10, or 1.7 %, at $66.83 a barrel, after hitting a revised session high of $66.95, the highest in almost four months, on the NYME. Concerns also persisted over supply disruptions amid unrest in Nigeria''s oil sector and fears that Iran''s nuclear ambitions could lead to sanctions. |
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Housing Starts Decline 8.9%
Jan 20, 9:17 AM EST |
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| New construction on homes in the United States fell 8.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.933 million. |
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| Analysts expected December housing starts would fall to a 2.04 million pace from 2.121 million in November. Building permits decreased 4.4% to an annual rate of 2.068 million in December from 2.163 million in November. For all of 2005, housing starts increased 5.6% to 2.065 million, the most since the record 2.356 million in 1972. Building permits increased 3.4% to 2.141 million in 2005. |
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