Last Week in the News (March 2, 2009)

On Tuesday, February 24, the Conference Board reported that its consumer confidence index fell 12.4 points to 25 in February. Economists had expected the index to decrease to 35.5. In February 2008, the index was at 76.4. The index was benchmarked at 100 in 1985, a year chosen because it was neither a peak nor a trough in consumer confidence.

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city housing price index dropped a record 18.5% from December 2007 to December 2008. Since August 2006, the 20-city index has declined every month.

On Wednesday, the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales fell 5.3% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.49 million, from 4.74 million in December. Economists had expected an annualized rate of 4.79 million homes.

Orders for durable goods fell for a record sixth consecutive month in January. The Commerce Department said orders dropped by 5.2%, more than twice as much as forecast.

The Commerce Department said Thursday that new home sales fell 10.2% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 309,000. It was the slowest monthly pace since recordkeeping began in 1963.

The Labor Department said initial claims for unemployment benefits rose to 667,000 from the previous week's figure of 631,000. The number of people continuing to claim jobless benefits increased by 114,000 to 5.11 million in the week ended February 14.

Upcoming on the economic calendar are reports on construction spending on March 2, pending home sales on March 3 and factory orders on March 5.