Economic indicators

Texas service sector activity “continued to increase in December,” according to business executives responding to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey, as the revenue index held at 24.4.

The consumer confidence index decreased to 122.1 in December from a revised 128.6 last month, The Conference Board reported Wednesday.

Pending home sales rose 0.2% to an index reading of 109.5 in November, from an unrevised 3.5% gain to 109.3 in October.

The number of people employed in Puerto Rico during November fell 1.8% from July.

Texas factory activity, as measured by the production index, “expanded strongly in December.”

Service sector activity saw “continued growth in December.”

Manufacturing growth in the central Atlantic region was “moderate” in December.

Home prices rose 6.2% on an annual basis in October, not seasonally adjusted, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, released Tuesday.

Manufacturing activity in the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's region "continued at a solid pace, and optimism remained high" in December.

The pace of new single-family home sales increased by 17.5% to 733,000, the highest level since July 2007.

The University of Michigan's final December consumer sentiment index reading was 95.9.

The value of U.S. durable goods orders rose 1.3% in November, but were actually down 0.1% excluding a 4.2% jump in transportation orders.

Personal income rose 0.3% in November, while nominal PCE was up 0.6% and the core PCE price index rose 0.1%.

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

The composite of the Leading Economic Index was up 0.4% in November following an unrevised 1.2% increase in October, the Conference Board reported Thursday.

Initial jobless claims rose by 20,000 to 245,000 in the December 16 employment survey week.

Third quarter GDP growth was revised down to a 3.2% annual rate from the 3.3% pace in the second estimate, compared to no revision expected.

The region's manufacturing sector expanded in December at a quicker pace than in November.

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for November decreased to 0.15 from an upwardly revised 0.76 in October.

Existing home sales grew 5.6% to a seasonally adjusted 5.81 million-unit rate in November.