Weekly Information 7/16

Mortgage interest rates improved this past week as economic data was mostly weaker than expected. June Retail Sales fell 0.5% on expectations that sales would fall by 0.2%. Excluding automobiles, sales fell by 0.1% on expectations that they would be unchanged. The July New York Fed Empire State Manufacturing Index along with the July Philadelphia Fed Business Index were much weaker than expected. Today’s University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index fell to 66.5, an 11 month low. Also of note, inflation continues to be low. The June Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell 0.1% on expectations that it would be unchanged. Year over year CPI is up 1.1%. June Core CPI, excluding the food and energy components, increased 0.2% on expectations that it would increase 0.1%. Year over year, though, core CPI increased just 0.9%, the smallest increase since 1966.