US Housing Starts — Indicator 1.61
Housing Starts measure the number of new privately owned housing units on which construction has begun in a given month, usually reported as a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR). It captures real activity in the residential construction sector: how many houses and apartments are actually breaking ground, not just being planned or sold. In the […]
US Building Permits — Indicator 1.62
US Building Permits measure the number of new residential building permits issued by local authorities, usually reported as an annualized number of units (SAAR) and broken into single-family vs multi-family. It sits very early in the housing pipeline: before shovels hit the ground (Housing Starts – 1.61) and long before an actual sale shows up […]
US MBA Mortgage Applications (weekly) — Indicator 1.63
MBA Mortgage Applications are a weekly gauge of US housing credit demand, based on survey data from mortgage bankers. The report tracks the volume of new mortgage applications, typically broken into purchase and refinance indices, plus a composite. It sits at the intersection of the household sector and financial conditions: it captures how willing and […]
US Personal Income m/m — Indicator 1.64
US Personal Income m/m measures the change from one month to the next in the total income received by households: wages and salaries, proprietors’ income, rental income, interest and dividends, plus government transfer payments. It sits firmly in the household sector of the economy and is reported monthly, with data that are mostly coincident to […]
US Personal Spending (PCE-based, m/m) — Indicator 1.65
US Personal Spending (PCE-based, month-on-month) measures the percentage change in total consumer outlays from one month to the next, based on the same dataset that underpins the PCE Price Index. It captures what households actually spend on goods and services: durable goods (cars, appliances), non-durables (food, fuel), and a wide range of services (healthcare, rent, […]
US Consumer Credit m/m — Indicator 1.66
US Consumer Credit (m/m) tracks the monthly change in the total outstanding consumer credit held by households, typically reported in billions of dollars. It covers revolving credit (mainly credit cards) and non-revolving credit (auto loans, student loans, some personal loans), but excludes mortgages, which sit in separate housing/real-estate statistics. The data comes from the Fed’s […]
US Chicago PMI — Indicator 1.67
Chicago PMI is a monthly business survey for the Chicago region, compiled as a diffusion index where 50 marks the line between expansion and contraction. It primarily captures manufacturing and related activity (orders, production, employment, supplier deliveries, inventories) but also has some services exposure given the regional mix (autos, machinery, logistics, business services). It sits […]
US Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) — Indicator 1.68
The Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI, 1.68) is a composite indicator designed to summarize overall US economic activity and inflationary pressure in a single number. It is built from a large basket of monthly indicators (production, employment, consumption, housing, sales, orders, etc.) and is normalized so that 0 roughly corresponds to long-run trend growth. […]
US Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index — Indicator 1.69
The Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index is a monthly regional survey of manufacturing firms in the Federal Reserve’s Fifth District (Virginia, Maryland, the Carolinas, D.C.). It’s a diffusion index: respondents report whether conditions such as shipments, new orders, employment, and capacity utilization are improving, unchanged, or worsening. Readings above zero indicate expansion, below zero contraction, and […]
US Dallas Fed Manufacturing Index — Indicator 1.70
The Dallas Fed Manufacturing Index is a monthly regional business survey covering factory activity in Texas and the surrounding Eleventh Federal Reserve District. It’s a diffusion index built from questionnaires sent to manufacturing firms, asking whether conditions (production, new orders, employment, delivery times, prices, etc.) are improving, unchanged, or worsening. Readings above 0 indicate expansion, […]