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January’s producer prices; December’s construction spending, factory inventories, and wholesale trade

Major economic reports released the past week included the Producer Price Index for January , and three December reports that included metrics that were only estimated in last week’s 4th quarter GDP release: the November and December reports on Construction Spending , the Full Report on Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders for December , and the December report on Wholesale Trade, Sales and Inventories , with all of those from the Census Bureau…. In addition, last week also saw the release the last three regional Fed manufacturing surveys for February: the Kansas City Fed manufacturing survey for February , covering western Missouri, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming and northern New Mexico, reported its broadest composite index rose to 5 in February, up from 0 in January and 0 in December, indicating that a small plurality that region’s manufacturers saw improving business conditions in February; the Richmond Fed Survey of Manufacturing Activity , covering a...

4th quarter GDP; January’s industrial production; December’s personal income and outlays, trade deficit, durable goods, new home construction, and new home sales…

This week’s key reports were the advance estimate of 4th quarter GDP and the December report on Personal Income and Spending , both from the Bureau of Economic Analysis; other widely watched reports released this week included the Commerce Department’s report on our International Trade for December ; the December report on Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization from the Fed, and the advance report on durable goods for December , the New Residential Construction report for November and December (pdf), and the November and December reports on new home sales , with all of those from the Census Bureau… The week also saw the release of the first two regional Fed manufacturing surveys for February: the Empire State Manufacturing Survey from the New York Fed, which covers all of New York state, one county in Connecticut, Puerto Rico and northern New Jersey, reported their headline general business conditions index slipped from +7.7 in January to +7.1 in February, still its fo...

January’s jobs, consumer prices and existing home sales; December’s retail sales; November’s business inventories

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Major economic releases from last week included the Employment Situation Summary for January , the January Consumer Price Index , and the December Import-Export Price Index , all from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Advance Retail Sales Report for December and the accompanying Business Sales and Inventories report for November , both from the Census Bureau, and the Existing Home Sales Report for January from the National Association of Realtors (NAR)… Employers Added 130,000 Jobs in January after Big Downward Revisions to 2025 Stats, Unemployment Rate at 4.3% The Employment Situation Summary for January from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated an increase in payroll jobs that was double what had been forecast for the month, while the unemployment rate fell to 4.3% as labor force participation increased…Estimates extrapolated from the seasonally adjusted establishment survey data projected that employers added 130,000 jobs in January, after the previously estimated pay...