Economic data was abundant today and the members of the Federal Reserve closely scrutinized the numbers as the Federal Open Market Committee meeting gets underway today on Capitol Hill. The members will discuss the U.S. economy and will most likely hold off on tapering its current Quantitative Easing Program dubbed QE III. First up was Retail Sales in September fell for the first time in six months, but the decline could be attributed towards a decline in auto sales. Sales fell by 0.1% and was in line with estimates but when stripping out autos, sales actually rose by 0.4%, double the 0.2% expected. The Commerce Department said that there were fewer weekend shopping days in September coupled with a short supply of some popular models. Over in housing, the Case Shiller 20-city Index year-over-year rose by 12.8% in August, above the 12.4% expected and above the 12.3% recorded in July. It was the fastest year-over-year gain since February 2006. However, prices gains are beginning to slow in many cities, a signal that the big gains may have peaked. The Conference Board reported that Consumer Confidence in October slowed due to the effects as the government shutdown and debt ceiling issues took hold of the economy. The Index fell to 71.2 in October, below the 73.1 expected and down from the 80.2 recorded in September. A spokesperson for the Conference Board said, Confidence is likely to remain volatile for the next several months.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 16:35:46 +0000
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