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Last Week in the News
Existing home sales fell 0.6% in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.02 million units from 5.05 million units in January. The inventory of unsold homes on the market rose 9.5% to 3.59 million, an 8.6-month supply at the current sales pace, up from a 7.8-month supply in January.
Orders for durable goods — items expected to last three or more years — rose 0.5% in February after a revised 3.9% increase in January. Excluding volatile transportation-related goods, orders posted a monthly increase of 0.9%.
New home sales fell 2.2% in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 308,000 units from an upwardly revised rate of 315,000 units in January. Economists had expected a pace of 320,000 units. It was the fourth straight monthly decline and the lowest pace since recordkeeping began in 1963.
Initial claims for unemployment benefits fell by 14,000 to 442,000 in the week ending March 20. Continuing claims for the week ending March 13 fell by 54,000 to 4.648 million, the lowest level since December 20, 2008.
The Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for March’s final reading was 73.6, matching February’s final reading. The index is 28% higher than it was one year ago. During the economic expansion that ended in December 2007, the index averaged 88.9.
In its third and final report, the Commerce Department announced that gross domestic product — the total output of goods and services produced in the U.S. — increased at an annual rate of 5.6% in the fourth quarter of 2009, rather than the 5.7% increase initially reported. For all of 2009, the economy contracted 2.4%.
Upcoming on the economic calendar are reports on the housing price index on March 30, factory orders on March 31 and construction spending on April 1.
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