Economy/Ecommerce

Revised 3Q GDP increases to an annualized rate of 4.1 percent, while state unemployment levels continue to drop, with energy-booming North Dakota leading the way with a jobless rate of 2.6 percent.

The National Association of Realtors reported total U.S. existing home sales, including single-family, condos and co-ops, dropped 4.3 percent in November compared with October, down to an annualized rate of 4.9 million units.

Private housing starts in November came in at an annualized rate of 1,091,000 units, according to the Census Bureau.

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers didn’t budge in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Federal Reserve reported that U.S. industrial production increased 1.1 percent in November, compared with a decline of 0.1 percent in October.

It’s going to be a notable week for the Federal Reserve, with a meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee slated for Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by Chairman Ben Bernanke’s last press conference in that position.

U.S. retail sales edged up 0.7 percent in November compared with October, the Census Bureau reported.

The Rockefeller Foundation reported recently that total state tax collections increased during the second quarter of 2013, the latest in a string of quarterly increases and an indication that the contraction of state government–which represented a major headwind for the entire U.S. economy during the worst of the recession–is over.

Congress, which served as a drag on the economy in 2013 with its uncertainty-generating behavior, took a small step toward more consistent policymaking in 2014–it is an election year, after all–by passing a modest budget deal.