Initial Claims increased to 444,000, for the week ending 01/09, exceeding the expected decrease to 431,000, after remaining unchanged at 433,000, the revised level for the previous week. The 4-week moving average decreased by 9,000 to 440,750, from the previous week’s revised average of 449,700. Seasonally adjusted insured unemployment from the prior week, ending on 01/02, was 4,596,000, a decrease of 211,000 from the preceding week’s unrevised level of 4,807,000. Seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate from the week ending on 01/02, was 3.5%, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week’s unrevised figure of 3.6%.
Retail Sales decreased by 0.3% in December, the first decline in three months, to $353.0 billion annualized, as against the expected increase of 0.4%, following a 1.8% increase in November (revised upward from a 1.3% increase), after increasing by 1.1% in October. Over the past year, retail sales volume has expanded by 5.4%. Sales in motor vehicles and parts decreased by 0.3% over the month, following a 1.6% increase in November. Retail Sales excluding autos decreased by 0.2% in December, the biggest decline since July, as against the expected 0.3% increase after increasing by 1.9% in November and remaining unchanged in October.
Business Inventories increased by 0.4% in November, to $1,313,2 billion, better than the consensus estimate of a 0.1% increase. Business inventories increased by 0.2% in October, and currently stand 11.1% less than November 2008 levels. The inventories/sales ratio was 1.28 at the end of November, compared to 1.43 recorded a year ago.
Upcoming Releases
Business Inventories (01/14 at 10:00 AM EST)
CPI (01/15 at 8:30 AM EST)
Industrial Production (01/15 at 9:15 AM EST)
Capacity Utilization (01/15 at 9:15 AM EST)
