13:30 Dados States
Enviado: 1/2/2007 14:448:30
U.S. Dec. real disposable incomes up 0.2%
U.S. Dec. real consumer spending up 0.3%
U.S. Dec. personal savings rate falls to -1.2%
U.S. Dec. nominal consumer spending up 0.7% vs 0.8% expected
U.S. Dec. nominal incomes up 0.5% as expected
U.S. Dec. core PCE price index up 0.1% vs. 0.2% expected
U.S. core PCE price index up 2.2% year-on-year
ECONOMIC REPORT: Incomes, spending slow in December; Core inflation rises 0.1%, below expectations
By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch Last Update: 8:30 AM ET Feb 1, 2007
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Higher energy prices dragged down growth in real consumer spending and real disposable incomes in December, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.
Core inflation, meanwhile, rose an unexpectedly low 0.1%, the second straight month of relatively stable prices excluding food and energy. Headline inflation rose 0.4% in December, backed by a 0.9% gain in prices of nondurable goods, such as energy goods.
Real, or inflation-adjusted, consumer spending rose 0.3% during the month, following gains of 0.5% in the previous two months. For all of the fourth quarter, real spending rose at a robust 4.4% annual rate.
Real disposable incomes rose 0.2%, the weakest growth since May.
The report suggests moderate economic growth and a modestly improved inflation picture, just as the Federal Open Market Committee concluded at the end of Wednesday's policy meeting.
The Fed would like the core price index to stay between 1% and 2%. The core personal consumption expenditure price index was up 2.2% in the past year, unchanged from November and down from 2.4% in October. Headline consumer inflation has risen 2.3% in the past year, or 2.1% using an alternative measure of market-based prices.
Details
In nominal terms, incomes rose 0.5%, while spending increased 0.7%, the largest since July. Those gains were largely in line with expectations of economists surveyed by MarketWatch. Economists expected core inflation to rise 0.2%.
With real spending rising faster than real disposable incomes, the personal savings rate fell to negative 1.2%, the lowest since August. For all of 2006, the savings rate was negative 1%, the lowest annual savings rate since 1933.
Real spending on durable goods increased 1.2% in December. Real spending on nondurable goods rose 0.6%. Real spending on services was flat.
Nominal employee compensation rose 0.6% in December, the best in three months. Nominal wages rose 0.6%, while nominal supplements to wages rose 0.5%.
Nominal proprietors' income was unchanged. Income from assets rose 0.2%.
Taxes increased 0.7%.
U.S. 4-wk. avg. continuing claims up 30,500 to 2.48 mln
U.S. continuing jobless claims rise 71,000 to 2.55 million
U.S. 4-wk. avg. initial jobless claims fall 4,500 to 304,750
U.S. weekly initial jobless claims fall 20,000 to 307,000
ECONOMIC REPORT: U.S. weekly initial jobless claims fall 20,000 to 307,000; Four-week average of new claims falls to an 11-month low
By Robert Schroeder, MarketWatch Last Update: 8:39 AM ET Feb 1, 2007
U.S. weekly initial jobless claims fall by 20,000
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- First-time applications for state unemployment benefits fell by 20,000 to a seasonally adjusted, two-week low of 307,000 in the week ending Jan. 27, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
The four-week average of initial claims dropped by 4,500, to an 11-month low of 304,750. Economists consider the four-week average a better gauge of underlying labor market strength because it smoothes out often-volatile data.
The number of people collecting unemployment checks rose by 71,000 to a seasonally adjusted 2.55 million in the week ending Jan. 20. It's a two-week high.
The four-week average of continuing claims rose by 30,500 to 2.48 million, the highest since Dec. 23.
Initial claims represent job destruction, while the level of continuing claims indicates how hard or easy it is for displaced workers to find new jobs.
The insured unemployment rate -- the percentage of those covered by unemployment insurance who are collecting benefits -- remained at 1.9%.
Initial claims are about 8% higher than they were a year ago, while continuing claims are about 11% higher.
Unemployment benefits typically run out after 26 weeks for those who are eligible. Those who exhaust their unemployment benefits are still counted as unemployed if they are looking for work.
In another snapshot of the job market, U.S. private-sector employment rose by 152,000 in January, according to the ADP employment report released Wednesday.
Adding an estimated 15,000 or so additional government jobs that aren't included in the ADP index, the report suggests nonfarm payrolls likely rose by about 167,000 in January, relatively close to the median forecast of 150,000 in a MarketWatch survey.
The nonfarm payrolls report is scheduled to be released Friday at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.
U.S. Dec. real disposable incomes up 0.2%
U.S. Dec. real consumer spending up 0.3%
U.S. Dec. personal savings rate falls to -1.2%
U.S. Dec. nominal consumer spending up 0.7% vs 0.8% expected
U.S. Dec. nominal incomes up 0.5% as expected
U.S. Dec. core PCE price index up 0.1% vs. 0.2% expected
U.S. core PCE price index up 2.2% year-on-year
ECONOMIC REPORT: Incomes, spending slow in December; Core inflation rises 0.1%, below expectations
By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch Last Update: 8:30 AM ET Feb 1, 2007
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Higher energy prices dragged down growth in real consumer spending and real disposable incomes in December, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.
Core inflation, meanwhile, rose an unexpectedly low 0.1%, the second straight month of relatively stable prices excluding food and energy. Headline inflation rose 0.4% in December, backed by a 0.9% gain in prices of nondurable goods, such as energy goods.
Real, or inflation-adjusted, consumer spending rose 0.3% during the month, following gains of 0.5% in the previous two months. For all of the fourth quarter, real spending rose at a robust 4.4% annual rate.
Real disposable incomes rose 0.2%, the weakest growth since May.
The report suggests moderate economic growth and a modestly improved inflation picture, just as the Federal Open Market Committee concluded at the end of Wednesday's policy meeting.
The Fed would like the core price index to stay between 1% and 2%. The core personal consumption expenditure price index was up 2.2% in the past year, unchanged from November and down from 2.4% in October. Headline consumer inflation has risen 2.3% in the past year, or 2.1% using an alternative measure of market-based prices.
Details
In nominal terms, incomes rose 0.5%, while spending increased 0.7%, the largest since July. Those gains were largely in line with expectations of economists surveyed by MarketWatch. Economists expected core inflation to rise 0.2%.
With real spending rising faster than real disposable incomes, the personal savings rate fell to negative 1.2%, the lowest since August. For all of 2006, the savings rate was negative 1%, the lowest annual savings rate since 1933.
Real spending on durable goods increased 1.2% in December. Real spending on nondurable goods rose 0.6%. Real spending on services was flat.
Nominal employee compensation rose 0.6% in December, the best in three months. Nominal wages rose 0.6%, while nominal supplements to wages rose 0.5%.
Nominal proprietors' income was unchanged. Income from assets rose 0.2%.
Taxes increased 0.7%.
U.S. 4-wk. avg. continuing claims up 30,500 to 2.48 mln
U.S. continuing jobless claims rise 71,000 to 2.55 million
U.S. 4-wk. avg. initial jobless claims fall 4,500 to 304,750
U.S. weekly initial jobless claims fall 20,000 to 307,000
ECONOMIC REPORT: U.S. weekly initial jobless claims fall 20,000 to 307,000; Four-week average of new claims falls to an 11-month low
By Robert Schroeder, MarketWatch Last Update: 8:39 AM ET Feb 1, 2007
U.S. weekly initial jobless claims fall by 20,000
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- First-time applications for state unemployment benefits fell by 20,000 to a seasonally adjusted, two-week low of 307,000 in the week ending Jan. 27, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
The four-week average of initial claims dropped by 4,500, to an 11-month low of 304,750. Economists consider the four-week average a better gauge of underlying labor market strength because it smoothes out often-volatile data.
The number of people collecting unemployment checks rose by 71,000 to a seasonally adjusted 2.55 million in the week ending Jan. 20. It's a two-week high.
The four-week average of continuing claims rose by 30,500 to 2.48 million, the highest since Dec. 23.
Initial claims represent job destruction, while the level of continuing claims indicates how hard or easy it is for displaced workers to find new jobs.
The insured unemployment rate -- the percentage of those covered by unemployment insurance who are collecting benefits -- remained at 1.9%.
Initial claims are about 8% higher than they were a year ago, while continuing claims are about 11% higher.
Unemployment benefits typically run out after 26 weeks for those who are eligible. Those who exhaust their unemployment benefits are still counted as unemployed if they are looking for work.
In another snapshot of the job market, U.S. private-sector employment rose by 152,000 in January, according to the ADP employment report released Wednesday.
Adding an estimated 15,000 or so additional government jobs that aren't included in the ADP index, the report suggests nonfarm payrolls likely rose by about 167,000 in January, relatively close to the median forecast of 150,000 in a MarketWatch survey.
The nonfarm payrolls report is scheduled to be released Friday at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.