Econoday RSS Generator mam.econoday.com/getrss.asp?cust=mam Econoday Economic News en webmaster@econoday.com ©2012 Econoday Sun, 19 May 2013 06:04:00 GMT http://www.econoday.com/graphics/nav/home_big3.jpg http://www.econoday.com/ Econoday Highlights
Increased stimulus is what the bulls want to hear from Ben Bernanke.
]]> info@econoday.com Thu, 02 Feb 2012 GMT Econoday Highlights
Jobless claims are coming down but not very quickly while chain-store sales are mixed at best, a mix that held in place the Dow which slipped fractionally to 12,707. Light crude slipped about $1 to the mid $96 area while gold firmed about $15 to $1,760.
]]> info@econoday.com Thu, 02 Feb 2012 GMT Econoday Definition
Settlement is also called issuance. In general for securities, the settlement date is the date by which an executed securities transaction must be settled, with the buyer paying for the purchase and the seller delivering the asset that was sold. For Treasury securities, on settlement day, the Treasury delivers securities to bidders who were successfully awarded securities in a particular auction. In exchange, Treasury charges the accounts of those bidders for payment of the securities. Please check auctions of individual securities for more details. ]]> info@econoday.com Thu, 02 Feb 2012 GMT Econoday Highlights
Chain stores offer a mixed bag for January with some posting weaker-than-trend sales and some stronger stronger-than-trend sales. Those on the disappointing side are blaming mild weather during the month which held down sales of seasonal cold-weather goods. Some also blame delays in tax refunds. Those on the positive side cite the general strength of their offerings and business models. Today's results do not indicate any significant change in consumer behavior or spending trends.

Taken together the results point to little change for the government's ex-auto ex-gas reading of the monthly retail sales report, a reading that came in at a disappointing unchanged during December. The January retail sales report will be posted a week from Tuesday. The stock market is opening flat but not shares of retailers which as a group are moving higher this morning. ]]> info@econoday.com Thu, 02 Feb 2012 GMT Econoday ]]> info@econoday.com Thu, 02 Feb 2012 GMT Econoday PreviousActualAnnounced Layoffs - Level41,785 53,486 
Highlights
Layoff announcements rose to 53,486 in January from 41,785 in December in what is not a good signal for tomorrow's employment report. At 12,426, announcements were heaviest by far in the retail sector which the report stresses is probably not a seasonal effect as post-holiday layoffs of temporary employees are not usually announced. Remember this report is a count of announcements only. Challenger suggests that the retail layoffs reflect restructurings and/or store closures or other cost-cutting measures in the retail sector. ]]> info@econoday.com Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:30:00 GMT Econoday PreviousConsensusConsensus RangeActualNew Claims - Level377 K370 K368 K to 375 K367 K4-week Moving Average - Level377.50 K375.75 KNew Claims - Change21 K-12 K
Highlights
Layoffs continue to trend lower and point to improvement for the labor market. Initial claims fell 12,000 in the January 28 week to a slightly lower-than-expected total of 367,000. In a partial offset, the prior week is revised 2,000 higher to 379,000. The results in this weekly series are always clouded during the shortened weeks of January and December which puts the focus on the 4-week average -- and it continues to improve with a 2,000 decline to 375,750. This is the third straight decline and the 8th decline in 9 weeks for the average which has held below the 400,000 mark for a very convincing 12 weeks in a row. Yet the declining trend is subtle and a look at the 4-week averages in December vs January shows no significant change.

Continuing claims in data for the January 21 week fell a very steep 130,000 to 3.437 million, bringing down the unemployment rate for insured workers by 1 tenth to 2.7 percent. The 4-week average for this series is 3.528 million, down nearly 100,000 from December's trend. But the signal from continuing claims is difficult to isolate given that declining numbers reflect both new hiring but also unfortunately new drop outs from the labor market.

This report is positive but isn't likely to improve expectations for tomorrow's employment report where month-to-month improvement is expected to slow. There's no significant immediate reaction to today's report. ]]> info@econoday.com Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:30:00 GMT Econoday PreviousConsensusConsensus RangeActualNonfarm productivity - Q/Q change - SAAR2.3 %0.8 %-0.2 % to 2.2 %0.7 %Unit labor costs - Q/Q change - SAAR-2.5 %1.0 %-0.4 % to 1.5 %1.2 %
Highlights
Productivity growth slowed in the fourth quarter despite a gain in output as hours worked rose faster. Nonfarm business productivity eased to an annualized 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter after gaining 1.9 percent in the previous quarter. Expectations were for a 0.8 percent rise for the fourth quarter. The output component improved to 3.6 percent from 2.8 percent in the third quarter. However, hours worked increased an annualized 2.9 percent after a 0.9 percent gain the third quarter. In turn, unit labor costs rebounded an annualized 1.2 percent, following a 2.1 percent decrease in the third quarter. The consensus forecast was for a 1.0 percent increase.

Compensation rose an annualized 1.9 percent after a 0.3 percent dip in the third quarter.

Year-on-year, productivity was up 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter, compared to 0.8 percent in the prior quarter. Year-ago unit labor costs posted at up 1.3 percent, compared to a rise of 0.5 percent in the third quarter.

Productivity and unit labor costs are volatile on a quarterly basis. The headline numbers appear to have worsened but the key driver was a boost in hours worked and this is good for the economy. Long-term trends for productivity and unit labor costs remain on track and are favorable.
]]> info@econoday.com Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:30:00 GMT Econoday PreviousActualLevel-46.4 -44.8 
Highlights
The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index rose to minus 44.8 in the week ending January 29 from minus 46.4 the previous week.

All three components of the weekly consumer comfort index improved. The measure of Americans' views of the state of the economy rose to minus 79.1 last week from minus 81.1 the prior period. The gauge of personal finances climbed to minus 4.5 from minus 6.9. An index of the buying climate rose to minus 50.8 from minus 51.3.
]]> info@econoday.com Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:45:00 GMT Econoday ]]> info@econoday.com Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:00:00 GMT Econoday PreviousActualWeekly Change-192 bcf-132 bcf
Highlights
Natural gas in storage fell 132 billion cubic feet in the January 27 week to 2,966 bcf. A withdrawal of 130 bcf was expected. ]]> info@econoday.com Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:30:00 GMT Econoday PreviousActualOffering Amount$31.0 B $33.0 B CUSIP Number9127953N9 9127955M9 Auction DateJanuary 30, 2012 February 6, 2012 Issue (Settlement) DateFebruary 2, 2012 February 9, 2012 Maturity DateMay 3, 2012 May 10, 2012 Min Bid Amount$100 $100  ]]> info@econoday.com Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:00:00 GMT Econoday PreviousActualOffering Amount$29.0 B $31.0 B CUSIP Number9127955Y3 9127956A4 Auction DateJanuary 30, 2012 February 6, 2012 Issue (Settlement) DateFebruary 2, 2012 February 9, 2012 Maturity DateAugust 2, 2012 August 9, 2012 Min Bid Amount$100 $100  ]]> info@econoday.com Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:00:00 GMT Econoday PreviousActualOffering Amount$25.0 B $26.0 B CUSIP Number9127955V9 9127955Z0 Auction DateJanuary 10, 2012 February 7, 2012 Issue (Settlement) DateJanuary 12, 2012 February 9, 2012 Maturity DateJanuary 10, 2013 February 7, 2013 Min Bid Amount$100 $100  ]]> info@econoday.com Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:00:00 GMT Econoday ]]> info@econoday.com Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:00:00 GMT Econoday PreviousActualTotal Assets - Weekly Change$0.1 B$5.4 BReserve Bank credit - Weekly Change$1.5 B$0.4 B
Highlights
For the February 1 week, the Fed's balance sheet expanded $5.4 billion, following a $0.1 billion uptick the prior week. The gain was led by a $2.8 billion increase in "other assets" (largely those denominated in foreign currencies). Central bank liquidity swaps rose $1.3 billion. Holdings of Treasuries increased $0.9 billion while mortgage-backed securities edged up $0.4 billion. Total assets for the February 1 week rose to $2.927 trillion.

Reserve Bank credit for the February 1 week nudged up $0.4 billion after a $1.5 billion increase the prior period.
]]> info@econoday.com Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:30:00 GMT Econoday PreviousActualM2 Weekly Change$8.1 B$4.5 B ]]> info@econoday.com Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:30:00 GMT