Industrial production and housing starts improved in November, while consumer prices managed a slight increase.

Government figures released Tuesday show a 0.1% increase in industrial production following a 0.6% drop reported the month before. That figure is up from a first reported 0.8% decrease.
Capacity also posted a gain, moving up to 75.6% in November, up 0.1% from a revised October figure.
"Big-ticket consumer purchases picked up sharply in November and continue to drive economic growth, while packaged goods and business investment spending continue to trail," said Newport Communications Senior Economist Jim Haughey. This is typical of this early stage of a business expansion, he notes, and in the past has always led to stronger, more widespread economic growth. But the process may be slower this time because of the larger share of imported equipment, he said.
The strong manufacturing sectors in November were motor vehicles (+4.6%), electronics (+1.7%) and appliances and furniture (+0.8%). Packaged goods production, excluding energy products, fell 0.1%, and business equipment dropped a further 0.5%.
Meantime, a separate report showed housing starts increased 2.4% during November while the number of new building permits issued, an indicator of slightly as the strong fundamentals began to weaken, said Haughey.
He said 30-year mortgage rates, which were 5.95% in the latest weekly survey, are likely to rise during the winter.
"While the National Assn. of Homebuilders survey index of builders' expectations for the housing market rose in early December to the highest level in two years, home price appreciation slipped to a 3.2% annual rate in the latest quarter. This will dampen the speculative purchases of houses," he said.
This news came as the Consumer Price Index, the federal government's main gauge of inflation, posted a 0.1% increase in November, following a 0.3% jump the month before. The "core rate" of inflation, which is minus the volatile food and energy prices, moved up 0.2% in October, the same increase as the month before.