Full text of U.S. Financial Data : January 11, 2001

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January 11, 2001

USFinancialData
THE WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS:
■ The index of prices paid by U.S. residents for imported goods
fell 0.5 percent in December, as a 9.3 percent drop in prices of
petroleum products more than offset a 0.9 percent increase in
prices of nonpetroleum goods. December’s increase in nonoil
import prices was the largest monthly gain on record (back to
January 1989). After rising 7.1 percent in 1999, total import
prices rose 3.5 percent in 2000 (December-to-December). Import
prices are not seasonally adjusted.
■ Following a 1.2 percent gain in October, the value of consumer debt
outstanding rose 0.9 percent in November. Since November 1999,
consumer credit has increased 10.2 percent, the largest 12-month
increase since August 1996.
■ Payroll jobs at nonfarm establishments increased 105,000 in
December, or at a 1 percent annual rate. The average workweek
at private nonfarm establishments, however, fell 0.2 hours in
December to 34.1, after falling 0.1 hours in November. Over the
last two months of 2000, the average workweek fell at a 5.1 percent
rate. The civilian unemployment rate measured 4 percent in
December, unchanged from November. Payroll employment gains
averaged 160,000 a month in 2000, down appreciably from the
229,000 average monthly gains seen in 1999.
■ Sales of new, single-family homes fell 2.2 percent in November to
an annual rate of 909,000 units. Measured from a year earlier,
new home sales have increased 1.6 percent.
All data are seasonally adjusted unless otherwise indicated.
U.S. Financial Data is published weekly by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of
St. Louis. For more information on data, please call (314) 444-8590. To be added to the mailing
list, please call (314) 444-8808 or (314) 444-8809.
Information in this publication is also included in the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) electronic
bulletin board at (314) 621-1824 or internet World Wide Web server at www.stls.frb.org/fred.