The U.S. Census Bureau reported that new orders for manufactured durable goods fell (-1.1%) to a seasonally adjusted $285.1 billion in November. This marks the third decline in four months and follows an upwardly revised (+0.8%) reading the previous month. A primary contributor to the decrease was transportation equipment, as commercial aircraft fell (-7.0%). Excluding transportation, new orders were down (-0.1%) month over month. On a year over year basis, new orders for manufactured durable goods shrank (-1.3%). Core capital goods orders, which exclude the volatile aircraft and defense orders, increased (+0.7%) after slipping (-0.1%) in October, increasing (+0.4%) year on year. Shipments fell for the fourth consecutive month, down (-0.1%) to $285.1B, largely driven by a (-6.5%) decline in commercial aircraft. Shipments are up (+1.6%) year over year. Core capital goods shipments increased (+0.5%) after a (+0.4%) reading in October, increasing (+0.3%) year on year.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that sales of newly built homes increased (+5.9%) month over month to 664,000 in November from an upwardly revised rate of 627,000. The seasonally adjusted annual rate is up (+8.7%) from a year earlier. Home sales in the Northeast fell (-41.0%), while the West decreased (-7.5%). Both the Midwest (+17.3%) and South (+13.9%) saw sales increases. The average sale price for a new home declined to $484,400 from a downwardly revised $525,400 the previous month. The median new home sale price dropped from a downwardly revised $425,600 in October to $402,600 in November. There were a seasonally adjusted 490,000 new homes for sale as of the end of November. The supply of new homes for sale decreased to an 8.9-month supply in November, as compared to a downwardly revised 9.2 months the previous month.

The Labor Department reported initial jobless claims edged down 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 219,000 for the week ending December 21st. The four-week moving average was 226,500, which was 1,000 more than the prior week. Unadjusted data showed that actual initial claims totaled 274,734, an increase of 9.0% as compared to the previous week. Thirty-eight states and U.S. territories reported increases in unemployment claims, while 15 recorded decreases. For the week ending December 14th, the insured unemployment rate was a seasonally adjusted 1.3%, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week's reading. There were 1.910M jobless claims overall, which was 46,000 more than the downwardly revised amount from the week before. The insured unemployment rate has not been this high since November 13, 2021, when it was 1.974M. The number of persons receiving unemployment benefits through state or federal programs for the week ending December 7th was 1.893M, an increase of 67,676 from the week before. For the same week in 2023, 1.864M weekly claims were filed.