Weekly Economic Update October 27 - 31, 2014
Pending home sales rose 0.3% to 105.0 in September. Durable goods orders fell 1.3% in September. The Case-Shiller home price index fell 0.1% in August. The FOMC announced an end to quantitative easing, and left policy rates unchanged at a range of zero to 0.25 percent. In an advanced estimate for the 3rd quarter of 2014, real GDP grew 3.5% annualized. Personal income increased 0.2% while spending fell 0.2% in September. Initial jobless claims rose 3,000 to 287,000 for the week ended 10/25.
- Pending home sales rose 0.3% to 105.0 in September.
- Durable goods orders fell 1.3% in September. Orders are up 3.3% from a year ago. Excluding transportation, orders were down 0.2% and up 7.3% over the year.
- The Case-Shiller home price index fell 0.1% in August. Not seasonally adjusted, the index is up 5.6% from a year ago. The Washington, D.C. index is up 0.01% over the month, up 3.05% over the year.
- The FOMC announced an end to quantitative easing, and left policy rates unchanged at a range of zero to 0.25 percent. There were no surprises with exception to Minnesota Fed president Kocherlakota.
- In an advanced estimate for the 3rd quarter of 2014, real GDP grew 3.5% annualized. The positive contributions included PCE, exports, nonresidential fixed investment, federal spending, and state & local spending, while private inventory investment contributed negatively.
- Personal income increased 0.2% while spending fell 0.2% in September. Year-over-year, spending is up 1.4%. The headline personal consumption expenditure price index is up 0.1% over the month. Core PCE is up 0.1% and up 1.5% from a year ago.
Initial jobless claims rose 3,000 to 287,000 for the week ended October 25th.