U.S. Economic News
November 21, 2018
U.S. Economic Indicators
The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index fell 1.1 points to 97.5 in the final November reading, and is down 1.0 point on the year. The Index of Consumer Expectations declined 1.2 points to 88.1, while the Current Economic Conditions Index edged down 0.8 point to 112.3. Report
New orders of manufactured durable goods decreased 4.4% in October after declining -0.1% (revised) in September, but are up 8.7% year to date. Excluding transportation, new orders edged up 0.1% (up 7.5% YTD). Census Bureau Report
Initial jobless claims rose 3,000 to 224,000 last week. The four-week moving average increased 2,000 to 218,500. DOL Report
Existing home sales rose 1.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.22 million in October, but are 5.1% below year-ago levels. NAR says that the Fed should reevaluate its monetary policy to help ease the financial burden on potential first-time homebuyers. NAR report
U.S. News
The Financial Times reports that a trade war between the U.S. and China could put significant downward pressure on global growth by by 2021. According to the authors, the worst case scenario would cause global growth to be 0.8% below baseline projections by 2021, with United States output more than 1.0% below its baseline. FT