Economic indicators

The seasonally adjusted Milwaukee Report on Business decreased to 59.62 in November from 63.61 in October.

Personal income rose 0.4% in October, compared with a 0.3% gain expected. At the same time, nominal PCE was up 0.3%, as expected.

Initial claims for U.S. state unemployment benefits fell by 2,000 to 238,000 in the November 25 holiday week, only slightly below the 240,000 level expected, data released by the Labor Department Thursday showed.

The Midwest Economy Index remained at a revised negative 0.12 in October, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said Thursday.

Nearly all Federal Reserve districts reported modest or moderate economic growth in the past six weeks as business outlook improved and hurricane-related rebuilding pushed prices higher, the latest Beige Book survey showed Wednesday.

Pending home sales rose 3.5% to an index reading of 109.3 in October, from a downwardly revised 105.6 in September, a 0.4% drop, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors.

Third quarter GDP growth was revised up to a 3.3% annual rate from the 3.0% pace in the advance estimate, as expected, data released Wednesday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis showed.

Texas service sector activity “increased again in November,” according to business executives responding to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey, as the revenue index rose to 24.4 from 19.2.

Service sector activity “continued to see strong growth in November,” according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond service-sector activity survey, released Tuesday.

The consumer confidence index increased to 129.5 in November from a revised 126.2 last month, The Conference Board reported Tuesday.

Manufacturing growth in the central Atlantic region was “robust” in November, according to the monthly business activity survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, as the manufacturing index soared to 30 from 12.

Texas factory activity, as measured by the production index, “continued to expand in November.”

The pace of new single-family home sales increased by 6.2%, to the highest level since October 2007.

The University of Michigan's final November consumer sentiment index reading was 98.5, compared to the preliminary November 97.8 and the final October 100.7, according to market sources.

The value of U.S. durable goods new orders fell 1.2% in October, well below expectations for a 0.5% increase.

Initial claims U.S. state unemployment benefits fell by 13,000 to 239,000 in the November 18 employment survey week.

Existing home sales grew 2.0% to a seasonally adjusted 5.48 million-unit rate in October from a revised 5.37 million sales pace the previous month.

The region's non-manufacturing sector “continued to expand, but with a slowing in the pace of growth.”

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for October increased to 0.65 from 0.36 in September, while the three-month moving average (CFNAI-MA3) rose to 0.28 from 0.01, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported Tuesday.

The composite of the Leading Economic Index was up 1.2% in October.