Housing Starts in August grew by 1.5% to an annual pace of 598,000 from the upwardly revised 589,000 in July (originally reported at 581,000). Over the year the figure has declined by 29.6% from the August 2008 rate of 849,000. Housing starts can be expected to grow in the near future as Building Permits showed a faster growth rate, of 2.7%, over the month to 579,000, less than the expected 594,000 level, following 564,000 permits annualized in July. Over the year, Building Permits fell by 32.4% from the 857,000 pace in August 2008.
Initial Claims fell by 12,000 to 545,000 for the week ending 09/12, better than the expected increase to 558,000 filings, following a 557,000 revised figure (originally reported at 550,000). The 4-week moving average was 563,000, a decrease of 8,750 from the previous week’s moving average. Seasonally adjusted insured unemployment from the past week ending on 09/05 was 6,230,000, an increase of 129,000 from the preceding week’s revised level, adjusting the seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate upward by 0.1% to 4.7%.
Upcoming Releases
Leading Indicators (09/21 at 10:00 AM EST)
FOMC Policy Statement (09/23 at 2:15 PM EST)
Existing Home Sales (09/24 at 10:00 AM EST)
