First, initial unemployment claims fell by 13,000 to 198,000, the lowest number since February, though continuing claims rosae to 1.7 million, the highest level since July.so it's kind of a mixed bag.
Also on the down side is home sales falling to 13 year lows, with rising interest rates driving the number to an adjusted annual rate of 3.96 million.
The money quote here is, "Sales sank 15.4% compared with the same month last year and are down 21% through the first nine months of the year versus the same period in 2022."
It should be noted that most of the reduction in demand is on the low end, which rather paradoxically means that it has the effect of increasing median home prices, but the changes will work they up through the housing market.
It looks like Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is strongly implying that the Fed will not raise rates in the immediate future.
Powell implied in his speech to the Economic Club of New York that he is finding the current puzzling.
My guess is that he is concerned that he is not getting mass unemployment, which he wants, but he is getting an abrupt slowdown in housing, which he does not want, because that could hurt banks.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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