US Labor and Housing Markets Surpass Expectations

       The US dollar is expected to rally against other major currencies during the upcoming session as recent economic data sheds hope for the US economy’s weakest markets. Both the labor and housing markets have been two of the biggest concerns regarding the economic recovery and yesterday’s data suggest that they have surpassed growth projections. Claims for jobless benefits decreased more than expected during the past week as the Department of Labor reported that only 404,000 new people filed for unemployment insurance. The figure is a 37,000 drop from the revised 441,000 two weeks ago and is the biggest fall since February 2010.

       Existing home sales in the US rose to an annual rate of 5.28 Million in December, greatly surpassing the 4.88 Million projections. The actual figure is a 12.3 percent gain from November’s upwardly revised 4.70 Million. Although last month’s sales were 2.9 percent lower compared to a year ago, it is still held as a vast improvement considering the housing market was at a fifteen-year low in mid-2010.

       The developments in both the labor and housing markets are definitely positive for the US economy as they are likely to improve growth outlook as well as speed up the recovery.

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