December 2020 seasonally-adjusted advance estimates of United States retail and food service sales decreased from November sales figures as anticipated and represents the 3rd consecutive month of decreasing sales.
While the e-commerce portion of the U.S. CPG industry, comprised of food and beverage, general merchandise, homecare, and health and beauty, remains a small portion of total CPG sales today, it remains at an elevated level.
The number of unadjusted initial claims rose to 1.15 million, the highest level since the end of July. It is an increase of 231,335 from the prior week, as the re-closing of some businesses in some states is contributing to more layoffs.
As expected, mortgage rates rose this week, following the trend of the 10-year Treasury yield in the last couple of weeks.
The median existing-home price rose to $310,800 in November; 15% more than a year earlier; 41% more than five years earlier.
The annual inflation rate rose for seven straight months in December as the economy gradually recovers from the COVID effect.
At the national level, housing affordability declined in November 2020 compared to a year ago but rose modestly compared to October.
New jobless claims rose by 77,400 to 922,072 last week, and continued claims, which measure the number of people receiving checks for regular unemployment benefits, rose to nearly 5.4 million.
Nearly half a million job losses in leisure and hospitality wipe out job gains in December 2020 and lead to rising unemployment rate among Hispanics.
There was a decrease in nationwide foot traffic on a month-to-month basis, but home showings were up 24% year-over-year.
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