Initial Claims decreased to 404,000, for the week ending 01/15, the largest decline since February 2010, against the expected decrease to 419,000, after increasing to 441,000, the revised level for the previous week. The 4-week moving average decreased to 411,750, from the previous week’s revised average of 415,750. Seasonally adjusted insured unemployment from the prior week, ending on 01/08, was 3,861,000, a decrease of 26,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 3,887,000. Seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate from the week ending on 01/08, was 3.1%, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised figure of 3.1%.
Existing Home Sales are scheduled for release today at 10:00 AM EST. Our consensus estimate shows this indicator is expected to increase to a 4.85 million annual pace for November from the 4.68 million pace reported in November. The national median existing-home price for all housing types in October was $170,600, which is 0.4% below the figure recorded a year earlier.
The Conference Boards’ Leading Indicators Index numbers are expected today at 10:00 AM EST. The index had increased by 1.1% in November to 112.4 (2004=100). The Coincident Index increased in November to 101.7 (2004=100) and the Lagging Index decreased to 108.6 (2004=100).
Crude inventories are expected today at 10:30 AM EST. For the week ending January 7, U.S. commercial crude oil inventories had decreased by 2.2 million barrels from the previous week to 333.1 million barrels and were above the upper limit of the average range for that time of year. U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged 14.7 million barrels per day during this period, 260 thousand barrels per day below the previous week’s average. U.S. crude oil imports were averaging 8.9 million barrels per day, up by 449 thousand barrels per day from the previous week.
Upcoming Releases
Existing Home Sales (01/20 at 10:00 AM EST)
Leading Indicators (01/20 at 10:00 AM EST)
Crude Inventories (01/20 at 10:30 AM EST)
Consumer Confidence (01/25 at 10:00 AM EST)
