Yesterday's Reuters round-up of economic news in the US provides yet more evidence that the US housing market is cooling.
The Commerce Department said December housing starts fell 8.9 percent in December to an annual rate of 1.933 million units, led by a decline in construction of single-family homes...
Total single-family starts dropped 12.3 percent in December while groundbreaking on multifamily units jumped 10.2 percent.
Permits for future groundbreaking, an indicator of builder confidence, fell 4.4 percent in December.
Manufacturing also seems to be slowing.
A separate report from the Philadelphia Fed said factory growth nearly stalled in January, with its business activity index sliding to 3.3 from 10.9 in December. That was well short of Wall Street's forecast of a rise to 12.6.
It was the weakest reading since June, although key components of the index showed signs of strength.
However, the labour market looks strong.
The Labor Department said initial claims for state jobless aid fell 36,000 last week to 271,000, the lowest since April 2000, from a revised 307,000 the previous week.
Wednesday had seen data showing that inflation moderated in the US in December. Yesterday saw moderation in the annual inflation rate in Europe as well. From Eurostat:
Euro-zone annual inflation was 2.2% in December 2005, down from 2.3% in November. A year earlier the rate was 2.4%. Monthly inflation was 0.3% in December.
EU25 annual inflation was 2.1% in December 2005, down from 2.2% in November. A year earlier the rate was 2.4%. Monthly inflation was 0.3% in December.
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