U.S. Economic News
October 22, 2020
U.S. Economic Indicators
Initial jobless claims fell 55,000 to 787,000 last week. The four-week moving average decreased 21,500 to 811,250. DOL Report
Existing home sales rose 9.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.5 million in September and were up 20.9% compared to a year ago. Home sales increased in all four major regions on both a month-on-month and year-on-year basis. NAR Report
The Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index (“LEI”) rose 0.7% in September following a 1.4% increase in August. The improvement in the LEI was driven by declining unemployment claims and rising housing permits, though the decelerating pace of improvement implies the economy could be losing momentum heading into Q4. Conference Board Report