Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,202,000. This is 0.2% below the revised December rate of 1,204,000, but is 13.5% above the January 2015 estimate of 1,059,000. Single-family authorizations in January were at a rate of 720,000; this is 1.6% below the revised December figure of 732,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 442,000 in January.
Privately-owned housing starts in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,099,000. This is 3.8% below the revised December estimate of 1,143,000, but is 1.8% above the January 2015 rate of 1,080,000. Single-family housing starts in January were at a rate of 731,000; this is 3.9% below the revised December figure of 761,000. The January rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 354,000.
Industrial production increased 0.9% in January after decreasing 0.7% in December. A storm late in the month likely held down production in January by a small amount. The index for utilities jumped 5.4%; demand for heating moved up markedly after having been suppressed by unseasonably warm weather in December. Manufacturing output increased 0.5% in January and was 1.2% above its year-earlier level.
Focus of the session was on FOMC Meeting Minutes. Federal Reserve policy makers debating their outlook for interest rates last month expressed concern that the fall in commodity prices and the rout in financial markets increasingly posed risks to the U.S. economy. “Participants judged that the overall implications of these developments for the outlook for domestic economic activity was unclear but they agreed that uncertainty had increased,” according to minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee’s Jan. 26-27 meeting released Wednesday in Washington. “Many saw these developments as increasing the downside risks to the outlook.”
“While participants continued to expect that gradual adjustments in the stance of monetary policy would be appropriate, they emphasized that the timing and pace of adjustments will depend on future economic and financial-market developments and their implications for the medium-term economic outlook,” the minutes said. Officials agreed that incoming labor-market indicators had been “encouraging,” while data on spending and production were “disappointing.”
From Australia, tomorrow, job data will be published, while from China CPI and PPI figures are scheduled for a release. Number of employed in Australia is expected to increase by 12,900, while unemployment rate should remain unchanged at 5.8%. China's CPI should incline by 1.9%, while PPI should fall by 5.5%. In the US session Unemployment Claims and Philly Fed Manufacturing Index data will be published. Analysts are forecasting rise to 275,000 in unemployment claims, while Philly Fed Manufacturing Index should rise to -2.9.
Figures to watch:
Employment Change/Unemployment Rate (Thursday 1:30)
China's CPI/PPI (Thursday 2:30)
Unemployment Claims (Thursday 14:30)
Philly Fed Manufacturing Index (Thursday 14:30)
