Lackluster Economic Data Ahead of The Holiday

We have just seen a very mixed bag of economic data this morning ahead of the holiday.  While nothing is atrocious, none of it is exactly showing a gangbuster economy.  Other data is different, but here is what we have seen from personal income and spending, weekly jobless claims, and the highly volatile durable goods.

Personal Income & Spending in November was mixed from the Commerce Department.  Personal income rose by 0.3%, and Dow Jones was calling for 0.2%.  Personal spending rose by 0.4% in November, while Dow Jones was calling for a gain of 0.5%.

The weekly jobless claims from the Labor Department showed only a drop of 3,000 jobs to 420,000 from a revised figure of 423,000 from the week before (originally reported as 420,000 before the revision).  The army of unemployed measured by the continuing jobless claims fell by 103,000 to 4.064 million from a revised figure of 4,167,000 the week before.

Durable goods for November came in as a disappointment today.  This is one of the most volatile figures released each month, so a reading is hard to use on a snapshot for the future.  The headline figure came in at -1.3% rather than the -0.6% expected from Dow Jones.  On an ex-transportation the figure was +2.4% and on an ex-Defense basis it was -2.3%.  The reading in October was revised to -3.1% from -3.4% originally reported.

JON C. OGG