Unemployment Rate Fell
February 11, 2010
Good news hit the airwaves when the unemployment rate in January fell to 9.7 percent a small drop from 10 percent, but a welcome change. Around 20,000 jobs were cut this month, which is a far cry from the amount in saw in December, which was 150,000. The jobless claims over the last 4 weeks average saw a decrease from 4.618 million to 51,250.
The monthly index of activity in the manufacturing industry as reported by the Institute for Supply Management was an increase from 54.9 in December to 58.4 in January. This is a good sign as it is the fastest growth seen since the summer of 2004 and the sixth month of expansion in a row. A show of more than 50 signals expansion.
Spending in the construction sector fell just a bit over 1 percent in December after down turning in November of the same percentage of 1.2 percent. It was speculated by economists to see a .5 percent decrease.
In the non-manufacturing sector in the United States, January saw a rise to 50.5 in January after in December seeing a revised 49.8. Once again, any reading over 50 shows expansion. This time economists were wrong again expecting a reading of 51.
Pending home sales index as reported by the National Association of Realtors, which was based on contracts that have been signed showed a rise of 1 percent in the month of December. At this time a year ago, the amount of homes sales was up 11 percent.
The seasonally adjusted index seen by the Mortgage Bankers Association for mortgage application during the last week of January saw an increase of 21 percent to 620.7. An increase of 10.3 percent was seen in the purchase volume bringing it to 237.8. Refinancing applications increased a great amount to 2,854.8, which was a 26.3 percent increase.
Productivity increased as stated by the Labor Department at a yearly rate at 6.2 percent in the 4th quarter, which followed a 3rd quarter increase of 7.2 percent. Overall, labor costs decreased at a yearly rate of 4.4 percent.
Factory orders was up 1 percent in December as reported by the Commerce Department, which was double the increase economists believed of 0.5 percent. This was the fourth time in a row we saw a gain and it followed a 1 percent increase in November, which was revised.
Construction spending as reported by the Commerce Department decreased 1.2 percent in December after a decrease of 1.2 percent in November. Economist believed a 0.5 decrease would be seen.
New economic calendars will be reporting on wholesale trade on February 9, February 11 is for retail sales reports and February 12 consumer sentiment.
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One Comment to Unemployment Rate Fell
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What a relief that the unemployment rates fell. I hope this means we can expect an upturn in our economy.
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