• January 25, 2018
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New-home sales were at a 625,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate in December, the Commerce Department said Thursday. Sales of newly-constructed homes swooned in December, and a big jump in November was revised down. December’s rate was 9.3% lower than November, but 14.1% higher than a year ago. The median forecast, among economists surveyed was for

• January 25, 2018
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Initial U.S. jobless claims rose by 13,000 to 233,000 in the seven days ended Jan. 20. below the 240,000 forecast of economists. The more stable monthly average of claims fell by 3,500 to 240,000, the government said Thursday.

• January 24, 2018
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Existing-home sales were at a 5.57 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in December, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday. Sales of previously-owned homes tumbled in December as an ongoing inventory crunch worsened. Existing-home sales were down 3.6% for the month, though they were up 1.1% compared to a year ago. NAR said November’s selling

• January 23, 2018
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U.S. Treasurys saw some cautious buying on Tuesday, pushing yields lower, a day after President Donald Trump signed legislation to temporarily end a multiday, partial shutdown of the government.

• January 21, 2018
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The federal government stopped operating at midnight Friday heading into Saturday, halting all but essential services, after the Senate came 10 votes short of reaching a temporary, last-minute funding deal that would have kept the government open through February 16. The shutdown comes on the anniversary of President Trump’s inauguration, and with the GOP in

• January 20, 2018
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The deadline arrived without a deal. The U.S. government shut down at midnight Friday after Congress failed to overcome a partisan divide over immigration and spending.

• January 19, 2018
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The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index fell in January to a reading of 94.4, the worst reading since July. Economists polled expected a 98 reading. Confidence has increased substantially since the recession, though it’s still below levels of the internet bubble era.

• January 19, 2018
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John Williams, president of the San Francisco Federal Reserve, is being considered by the White House to become vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. That would put him in the No. 2 position behind new Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. The Journal reported that other candidates for

• January 18, 2018
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Initial U.S. jobless claims tumbled by 41,000 to 220,000 in mid-January, marking the biggest one-week decline since 2009. The number of new claims also touched the lowest level since February 1973. Economists had forecast claims to total 250,000 in the seven days ended Jan. 13. The level of claims gives a rough idea of how

• January 18, 2018
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Construction on new houses fell 8.2% in December to a 1.19 million annual rate. Economists polled by MarketWatch has forecast housing starts to total 1.28 million. Single-family starts dropped 11.8%, but construction on buildings with five or more units rose 2.6%. Permits for future construction were basically flat at 1.30 million. Still, 2017 was a