Last Week in the News November 22, 2010

Last Week in the News November 22, 2010

Retail sales rose 1.2% in October after an upwardly revised 0.7% increase in September. It was the largest increase in seven months. Economists had anticipated retail sales to rise 0.7% in October.

Total business inventories rose 0.9% in September to $1.4 trillion, the highest level since March 2009. Total business sales rose 0.5% in September after a 0.3% increase in August.

The producer price index, which tracks wholesale price inflation, rose 0.4% in October, matching a 0.4% increase in September. Core prices — excluding food and fuel — fell 0.6% in October, the most since July 2006. For the year, seasonally adjusted wholesale prices are up 4.3%.

Industrial production at the nation's factories, mines and utilities was unchanged in October, following a revised 0.1% increase in September. Economists had anticipated a gain of 0.3%. Capacity utilization was unchanged at 74.8% in October.

Consumer prices rose a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in October, following a 0.1% increase in September. For the year, seasonally adjusted consumer prices are up 1.2%.

The combined construction of new single-family homes and apartments in October fell 11.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 519,000 units. Single-family starts fell 1.1%. Multifamily starts dropped 43.5%. Applications for new building permits, seen as an indicator of future activity, rose 0.5% to an annual rate of 550,000 units.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits rose by 2,000 to 439,000 for the week ending November 13. Continuing claims for the week ending November 6 fell by 48,000 to 4.295 million, the lowest level since the recovery began.

Upcoming on the economic calendar are reports on existing home sales on November 23 and new home sales on November 24.

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