Weekly Information 10/19/22012

Mortgage interest rates increased on the week as economic data was mostly stronger than expected. Economic reports stronger than expected included September Retail Sales, August Business Inventories, September Industrial Production, September Housing Starts and Building Permits, September Leading Economic Indicators, and the October Philadelphia Fed Business Index. Building permits reached their best level in four years and the October NAHB Housing Index reached a five year high. September Existing Home Sales were down 1.7%, but sales were still up 11% year over year and the median sales price was up 11.3% year over year at $183,900. Employment data, though, was weaker than expected. Weekly jobless claims increased by 46k to 388k claims on expectations of 360k claims. In China, industrial production, retail sales, and fixed-asset investment accelerated in September.