- The consumer price index rose 0.2% in September, as expected. The small increase marked the slowest pace of consumer inflation in four months. The majority of price inflation in September was attributed to the cost of used cars, which jumped 6.7% – the biggest increase in 51 years.
- For the week ending 10/9, mortgage application submissions saw a composite decrease of 0.7%. Though new purchase application submissions dropped 2% week-over-week, they were still up 24% year-over-year. Refinance application submissions slipped 0.3% from their 8% gain the week ending 10/2.
- For the week ending 10/10, initial jobless claims rose by 53,000 to reach a new seven-week, seasonally adjusted high of 898,000. Continuing jobless claims, however, declined by nearly 1.2 million, to reach a seasonally adjusted level of approximately 10 million.
- In September, retail sales climbed for the fifth month in a row. Though economists had predicted an increase of 1.2%, sales jumped 1.9% – much higher than August’s 0.6% increase.
The consumer sentiment index rose again in October, reaching the highest level since March. Though the level was predicted to drop, it rose to 81.2.