Last Week in the News

Last Week in the News

The National Association of Realtors reported that its pending home sales index, a forward-looking indicator based on signed contracts, rose 4.3% in August after a downwardly revised 4.5% increase in July. On a year-over-year basis, pending sales are down 18.4%.

Factory orders fell 0.5% in August to a seasonally adjusted $408.9 billion. The decline follows a revised increase of 0.5% in July. The decrease was largely due to a 40.2% drop in demand for commercial aircraft. Excluding the volatile transportation sector, orders rose 0.9%.

The Institute for Supply Management reported that the monthly composite index of non-manufacturing activity rose to 53.2 in September from 51.5 in August. A reading above 50 signals expansion. It was the ninth consecutive month of growth.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted composite index of mortgage applications for the week ending October 1 fell 0.2%. Refinancing applications fell 2.5%. Purchase volume increased 9.3%, the highest level since early May.

Wholesalers increased their inventories 0.8% in August, following a revised 1.5% rise in July. Sales at the wholesale level rose 0.5% in August after a 0.8% increase in July. Economists had anticipated inventories would increase 0.5% in August.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits fell by 11,000 to 445,000 for the week ending October 2. Continuing claims for the week ending September 25 fell by 48,000 to 4.45 million. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.6% in September.

Upcoming on the economic calendar are reports on international trade on October 14 and retail sales on October 15.

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