020 7898 0500It was a busier day for US economic data yesterday, as the jobless claims came in below expectations. Economists had predicted that the number of claimants would drop to 235,000, but they actually rose by 10,000 to 249,000. However, this could be because of the disruption caused by the Veterans Day holiday so too much should not be read into it.
Meanwhile, US industrial output was better than expected in what proved to be a bit of a mixed day for the US. From a 0.4% rise in September, production jumped to a 0.9% increase in October against an expectation of a 0.5% rise. Now that the effects of the recent spate of hurricanes have quietened, productivity has clearly picked up in what is a good sign for the US economy.
The dollar has a weird day at the office, as it weakened against sterling following the release of UK retail sales figures for October, but made some slight gains against the euro. Today we will see the monthly and annual building permits, as well as the housing starts.
