Minnesota Mortgage Blog

Consumer credit made big news last week, with July seeing a $12 billion jump, to the Federal Reserve reported last week. The massive monthly gain doubled economists' predictions for the month's performance and it was the largest monthly gain in almost three years.
 
The big gains were in non-revolving debt, such as car loans and student loans. Non-revolving debt gained by an annual rate of 11.25, marking the largest monthly increase in non-revolving debt since November 2001. Meanwhile, consumer usage of revolving credit, such as credit cards, dropped at an annual rate of 5.25 percent.
 
Turning to trade for July, the month's exports were $178 billion compared to imports of $222.8 billion, according to the latest data from the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis, released last week. This put the trade deficit for goods and services at $44.8 billion, a welcome drop from June's $51.6 billion reported last week. July exports were $6.2 billion more than June exports of $171.8 billion. July imports were $0.5 billion less than June imports of $223.4 billion.
 
July's decrease in imports of goods reflected decreases in industrial supplies and materials ($2.5 billion); other goods ($1.0 billion); and foods, feeds, and beverages ($0.3 billion). Increases occurred in automotive vehicles, parts, and engines ($2.9 billion); capital goods ($0.3 billion); and consumer goods ($0.1 billion).
 
Looking at employment, initial jobless claims were on the rise. For the week ending Sept. 3, initial claims hit 414,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 412,000. The four-week moving average was 414,750, an increase of 3,750 from the previous week's revised average of 411,000.
 
The total number for insured unemployment during the week ending Aug. 27 was 3,717,000, a decrease of 30,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,747,000. The four-week moving average was 3,734,500, an increase of 5,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 3,729,000.
 
This week sees a busier financial calendar starting tomorrow with import and export prices for August from the Census Bureau and the August Treasury budget from the Treasury Department.
 
Wednesday follows with August's producer price index from the Bureau of Labor Statistic, as well as August retail sales figures and July's business inventories, both from the Census Bureau.
 
The Bureau of Labor Statistics continues Thursday with August's consumer price index, and the Employment and Training Administration releases initial jobless claim data for last week. Also on Thursday, the Federal Reserve will release August's industrial production and capacity utilization totals to close out the week's economic news.

It is a great time to purchase or refinance your home.  Give us a call or apply online today.

Jamie Larkin - Mortgage Advisor

651-484-1474

www.jamielarkin.com