Highlights of key economic statistics from last week compiled by Putnam Investments.
- Retail sales increased 1.7% in October compared with September, according to an advance report from the Census Bureau.
- Import prices rose 1.2% and export prices increased 1.5% in October, the Bureau of Labor Statistics found.
- The Federal Reserve reported industrial production rose 1.6% in October.
- Initial jobless claims fell by 1,000 to 268,000 in the week ended November 13, 2021, according to the Department of Labor.
- As of November 11, 2021, of the 460 S&P 500 Index companies reporting third-quarter earnings, 352 beat analysts’ estimates, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.
- The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index showed builder confidence increased in November.
- Eurostat reported the euro area recorded a trade surplus in September.
- Euro area GDP grew 2.2% in the third quarter, according to Eurostat.
- Eurostat noted the euro area annual inflation rate rose to 4.1% in October from 3.4% in September.
- The yield on the 10-year Treasury note increased.
- Divergent vaccination rollout timelines and virus mutations risk could cause a shift from a synchronized global recovery to a more fractured regional, multispeed recovery.
- Global leverage, created by pandemic response packages, is at worrisome levels and will eventually need to be paid for.
- Upward pressure on inflation from multiple fronts (energy prices, housing costs, and the labor market) could pressure central banks to pull forward their timelines for monetary policy normalization.
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