Full text of U.S. Financial Data : September 20, 2001

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September 20, 2001

USFinancialData
THE WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS:
■ In August, the consumer price index rose 0.1 percent, or at an
annual rate of 0.7 percent. After increasing at a 4 percent rate over
the first five months of this year, the CPI is unchanged over the last
three months. Measured from a year earlier, though, the CPI is up
2.7 percent.
■ Privately owned housing starts totaled 1,527,000 units (annualized)
in August, down 6.9 percent from July’s rate and 0.3 percent from a
year earlier. By category, starts of single family residences fell 2.4
percent in August, the second consecutive decline, while multi-family
starts fell 22.9 percent. Through the first eight months of 2001, the
actual number of houses started is 1.6 percent greater than the same
period in 2000.
■ U.S. exports of goods and services totaled $83.7 billion in July,
down 2.5 percent from June, which is the fourth decline in the past
five months. The value of U.S. imports totaled $112.6 billion in July,
down 2.1 percent from June. As a result, the U.S. goods and services
trade deficit measured $28.8 billion, down $0.2 billion (in absolute
terms) from June and $3.2 billion from 12 months earlier.
■ Measured in nominal terms, the value of total business inventories
(manufacturing, wholesaling, and retailing) fell $4.8 billion in July,
the sixth consecutive monthly decline. Total business sales, however,
rose 0.4 percent in July. Accordingly, the business inventory-to-sales
ratio fell from 1.43 in June to 1.42 in July, the second decline in the
past three months.
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
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Information in this publication is also included in the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) data base
on the internet at www.stls.frb.org/fred.