Economics Update

It's jobless Thursday, and the initial claims numbers are out, with initial claims falling to 450,000, the 4 week moving average falling to 464,750 last week's 478,250, continuing claims falling 84,000 to 4.49 million, and emergency claims fell by over 500,000, which is all a good thing, though the story also mentions that the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's general economic index missed expectations, remaining in the contractionary range, while the New York Fed's Empire State Index fell but remained in positive territory.

In terms of other general measures, we have conflicting data, with inventories rising strongly, retail sales rising in more sedately, and the NFIB's small business confidence rising modestly to an anemic 88, while on the other side we see industrial growth slowing in August.

Real estate, on the other hand is pretty grim in the post-tax credit days, with home repossession spiking, and CoreLogic's home price index showing no year over year gain for the first time in five months, and home mortgage applications fell this week.

On the inflation front, the Producer Price Index came out, and while there is still little inflation in the core rate, but food and energy costs are rising more sharply, though still well below a 6% annual rate.