Initial Claims dropped down to 466,000 for the week ending 11/21, better than the expected decrease to 496,700, following a revised level of 501,000 from the previous week. This is the first week since January 3rd where weekly filings fell below 500,000. The 4-week moving average was 496,500, a decrease of 16,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 513,000. Seasonally adjusted insured unemployment from the prior week, ending on 11/14, was 5,423,000, a decrease of 190,000 from the preceding week’s revised level. Seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate from the week ending on 11/14, was 4.1%, down by 0.2% from the prior week.
Personal Income for the month of October increased significantly, by $30.1 billion during the month, or by 0.2%, as was expected, and currently stands at the $12,142.9 billion seasonally adjusted level, following a 0.2% increase in September. Net of taxes, Disposable Personal Income increased by $45.7 billion, or 0.4 percent, in October, compared with an increase of $21.3 billion, or 0.2 percent in September. With the increase in incomes, Personal Consumption Expenditures increased by 0.7%, up $47.2 billion, to a seasonally adjusted annual flow of $10,166.7, better than the expected increase of 0.6%, after a decrease to the same effect in September, revised upward from an originally reported 0.5% decrease. With the increase in spending higher than the increase in income, the Personal Savings Rate decreased to 4.4% in October, from its September level of 4.6%.
Durable Orders decreased by 0.6%, $1.0 billion, during October to $166.2 billion, contrary to the expected increase of 0.6% gain, following a 2.0% increase in September and a 2.6% decrease in August. Machinery had the largest decrease, by 8.0%, $1.9 billion, to $21.8 billion, after two consecutive monthly increases. Over the past 12 months, Durable Orders have dropped by 23.0%.
Upcoming Releases
ISM Manufacturing Index (12/01 at 10:00 AM EST)
Construction Spending (12/01 at 10:00 AM EST)
Pending Home Sales (12/01 at 10:00 AM EST)
Fed’s Beige Book (12/02 at 2:00 PM EST)
