New orders for manufactured durable goods decreased 1.2 percent to $231.1 billion in September, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The September decrease followed a 3.0 percent decrease in August. The majority of the decline was attributable to a 2.9 percent fall in new orders for transportation equipment. Excluding transportation, new orders fell 0.4 percent.
Sales of new single-family homes fell in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 468,000 according to the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development. The September rate is 11.5 percent below the revised August rate of 529,000, but 2.0 percent above the year-ago rate of 459,000. New home sales contracted
Existing home sales rose 4.7 percent in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.55 million, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), up from a downwardly revised 5.30 million in August. Existing home sales are now 8.8 percent higher than the year ago level. Total housing inventory fell 2.6 percent to 2.21
House prices in the U.S. rose 0.3 percent in August on a seasonally adjusted basis according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) monthly House Price Index (HPI), down from a 0.5 percent monthly gain in July. The FHFA HPI is calculated using home sales information from mortgages sold to, or guaranteed by Fannie Mae
Housing starts rose 6.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.206 million in September. This is 17.5 percent above the September 2014 rate of 1.026 million. Housing activity rose in three of the four regions, rising 25.4 percent in the West, 23.4 percent in the Northeast and 0.6 percent in the South, but
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) reached a level of 64 in October, the highest reading since late 2005. Two of the three index components posted gains on the month. Current sales conditions improved 3 points to 70, while the index measuring buyer traffic was unchanged at 47. The index
Industrial production decreased 0.2 percent in September, after falling 0.1 percent in August. Total industrial production is 7.1 points above its 2012 level and 0.4 percent above the year ago level. Manufacturing output fell 0.1 percent on the month due to a 0.2 percent decline in durable goods output. Nondurable goods production remained unchanged in
The Consumer Price Index decreased 0.2 percent in September. The energy index drove the decline, followed by several non-food and -energy commodities. The index was essentially unchanged over the last 12 months. The energy index declined 4.7 percent in September, the second consecutive monthly decline. All energy commodities fell 8.6 percent, with gasoline falling 9.0
Economic activity continued to expand modestly across the twelve Federal Reserve Districts from mid-August through early October according to the October 2015 edition of the Federal Reserve Beige Book. Most districts reported modest economic activity, while two districts reported increased activity and one district noted a slight decline in economic activity. Banking conditions were generally
There were $447.7 billion of retail and food service sales in September (after adjustment for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences but not for price changes), a monthly increase of 0.1 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Retail sales increased 2.4 percent from September 2014. Core retail sales – excluding automobiles and parts