News and Information from Strategic Real Estate Opportunities

New orders for manufacturing goods in December 2009 increased 1.0 percent to $370.4 billion.  Shipments rose 1.9 percent, unfilled orders declined 1.0 percent and inventories declined by 0.1 percent from November 2009.

Productivity increased 6.2 percent in the nonfarm business sector during the fourth quarter of 2009 as unit labor costs fell 4.4 percent (seasonally adjusted annual rates, preliminary).  In manufacturing, productivity rose 7.8 percent while unit labor costs fell 7.4 percent.

Personal income in December 2009 increased 0.4% from November.  Real personal consumption expenditures (PCE) rose 0.1% and nominal PCE increased 0.2%.  Real disposable income (DPI) rose 0.3% and nominal DPI increased 0.4%.  The personal savings rate as a percentage of DPI was 4.8% in December.