New orders for manufactured durable goods in April increased $7.2 billion or 3.3 percent to $222.6 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This increase, up two of the last three months, followed a 5.9 percent March decrease. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 1.3 percent. Excluding defense, new orders increased 2.1 percent. Transportation equipment, also up two of the last three months, led the increase, $5.1 billion or 8.1 percent to $67.6 billion. This was led by ...

Tenth District manufacturing activity improved somewhat, rising above zero for the first time in seven months, and producers’ expectations for future activity also increased. Most price indexes recorded little changes from the previous month.

The month-over-month composite index was 2 in May, up from -5 in both April and March. The composite index is an average of the production, new orders, employment, supplier delivery time, and raw materials inventory indexes. The rise in production came from both durable and non-durable goods-producing plants, with the biggest increase coming from machinery and metals manufacturing. Other month-over-month indexes were mixed. The production index edged up from 1 to 5, and the shipments, new orders, and new orders for export indexes also rose. In contrast, the employment index fell from -3 to -7, while the order backlog index was unchanged. The raw materials inventory index rebounded from -17 to 0, and the finished goods inventory index moved slightly higher. ...

Sales of new single-family houses in April 2013 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 454,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 2.3 percent (±12.8%) above the revised March rate of 444,000 and is 29.0 percent (±20.7%) above the April 2012 estimate of ...

For the week ending May 11, 2013, the DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer moved down 0.5 percent for the second consecutive week, the biggest drop since February 9. Both consumption and production showed negative contributions to this week’s barometer. In consumption indexes, Chain Store Sales dropped by 2.0 percent following a 1.1 percent decline in the prior week. MBA’s Purchase Index also decreased for the first time in two months. As to production indexes, relatively large declines were seen in ...

In the week ending May 18, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 340,000, a decrease of 23,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 363,000. The 4-week moving average was 339,500, a decrease of 500 from the previous week's revised average of 340,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3 percent for the week ending May 11, unchanged from the prior week's revised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 11 was 2,912,000, a decrease of 112,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,024,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,995,250, a decrease of 23,750 from the preceding week's revised average of 3,019,000. ...

Existing-home sales rose in April but remain below underlying demand because of limited inventory and tight credit, according to the National Association of Realtors®. All regions are showing strong price gains from a year ago.

Total existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, increased 0.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.97 million in April from an upwardly revised 4.94 million in March. Resale activity is 9.7 percent above the 4.53 million-unit level in April 2012. ...

Employers took 1,199 mass layoff actions in April involving 116,849 workers as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (Data are seasonally adjusted.) Each mass layoff involved at least 50 workers from a single employer. Mass layoff events decreased by 138 from March, and the number of associated initial claims decreased by 11,090. In April, 293 mass layoff events occurred in the manufacturing sector ...

Mortgage applications decreased 9.8 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending May 17, 2013.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 9.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 10 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index decreased 12 percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 3 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 4 percent compared with the previous week and was 10 percent higher than the same week one year ago. ...

U.S. chain-store sales rose 3.1 percent year on year for the week that ended on May 18, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and Goldman Sachs. Retail sales were basically flat, or up 0.2 percent, week-to-week, according to the tracking study.

"Consumers played catch-up this past week and helped to propel weekly sales for retailers,” said Michael Niemira, ICSC's vice president of research and chief economist. “However, weather conditions continue to play havoc with the weekly pace of sales." ...

Led by declines in production-related indicators, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) decreased to –0.53 in April from –0.23 in March. Three of the four broad categories of indicators that make up the index decreased from March, and none of the categories made a positive contribution to the index in ...