First-time claims for unemployment benefits went up in the week ended November 13th, according to a report released by the Labor Department. The report showed that jobless claims rose to 439,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 437,000. Economists had been expecting jobless claims to increase to 442,000 from the 435,000 originally reported for the previous week. charts by RTTNews
The leading economic indicators index rose 0.3% month-over-month in September. However, the August growth was downwardly revised to a mere 0.1% increase. The index for September received a boost from a drop in jobless claims in September relative to August, while housing, consumer confidence and delivery delays negatively impacted the headline number. While the coincident index remained unchanged, the lagging index rose 0.4%.
The Labor Department’s consumer price inflation report showed a 0.2% month-over-month increase in consumer prices for October. The increase was slightly less than what economists had expected. The core consumer price index remained unchanged, while the consensus estimate was for a 0.1% increase. Food prices rose 0.1% in October compared to 0.3% growth in August and energy prices rose a steeper 2.6%, faster than the 0.7% increase witnessed in the previous month. Shelter costs edged up 0.1% after remaining unchanged in the previous two months.
Also, the Commerce Department released a report showing that housing starts fell 11.7 percent to an annual rate of 519,000 in October from the revised September estimate of 588,000. Economists had expected starts to slip to an annual rate of 600,000 from the 610,000 originally reported for the previous month. While the Commerce Department also said that building permits rose 0.5 percent to an annual rate of 550,000 in October from the revised September rate of 547,000, economists had expected permits to rise to an annual rate of 570,000.
