Economic indicators

The composite of the Leading Economic Index was up 0.6% in December following a revised 0.5% increase in November.

Initial jobless claims rose to 233,000 in the week ended Jan. 20, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Existing home sales fell 3.6% to a seasonally adjusted 5.57 million-unit rate in December from a revised 5.78 million sales pace the previous month, first reported as 5.81 million, the National Association of Realtors announced Wednesday.

Service sector companies “reported moderate growth in January,” according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond service-sector activity survey, released Tuesday.

Manufacturing growth in the central Atlantic region was “slower” in January, according to the monthly business activity survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, as the manufacturing index declined to 14 from 20.

The region's non-manufacturing sector “continued to expand.”

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for December increased to 0.27 from a downwardly revised 0.11 in November.

The University of Michigan's preliminary January consumer sentiment index reading was 94.4 compared to the final December 95.9 reading, sources said.

The December Chicago Business Barometer was revised up to 67.8, but the downward revision to second quarter numbers pulled down the index for the year.

Initial jobless claims fell by 41,000 to 220,000 in the January 13 week, well below the 250,000 level expected and hitting the lowest level since February 24, 1973.

The pace of housing starts posted an 8.2% decline to a 1.192 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in December.

The region's manufacturing sector expanded in January, at a slower pace than in December.

A group of economists including Joseph Stiglitz would cut the face value of Puerto Rico bonds by 80% or more.

Almost all of the 12 Federal Reserve districts reported “modest to moderate gains” in economic activity at the start of 2018, a Federal Reserve survey showed.

Builders’ confidence in the market for new single-family homes slipped as the National Association of Home Builders' housing market index fell to 72.

Industrial production grew 0.9% in December, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday.

The New York region's service sector activity "continued to grow at a solid pace," according to the January Business Leaders Survey.

Consumers’ inflation expectations gained, according to the October Survey of Consumer Expectations, released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Tuesday.

The Empire State Manufacturing Survey showed "business activity continued to grow at a solid clip in New York State."

The value of business inventories rose 0.4% in November as expected by analysts and calculated by MNI after the wholesale inventories report on Wednesday, data released Friday morning by the Commerce Department showed.