by Calculated Risk on 12/22/2021 07:34:00 PM

Thursday:
• At 8:30 AM ET, the initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released.  Initial claims were 206 thousand last week.

• Also, at 8:30 AM, Durable Goods Orders for November. 

• Also, at 8:30 AM, Personal Income and Outlays for November. The consensus is for a 0.2% increase in personal income, and for a 1.0% increase in personal spending.

• At 10:00 AM, New Home Sales for November from the Census Bureau. The consensus is 766 thousand sales SAAR.

• Also, at 10:00 AM, University of Michigan's Consumer sentiment index (Final for December).

From CR on COVID (mostly focus on hospitalizations and deaths, although new cases are rising rapidly):

The CDC is the source for all data.

COVID Metrics
	Today	Week Ago	Goal
Percent fully Vaccinated	61.7%	---	≥70.0%1
Fully Vaccinated (millions)	204.8	---	≥2321
New Cases per Day3🚩	161,261	118,855	≤5,0002
Hospitalized3🚩	61,290	59,405	≤3,0002
Deaths per Day3🚩	1,223	1,112	≤502
1 Minimum to achieve "herd immunity" (estimated between 70% and 85%). 2my goals to stop daily posts, 37-day average for Cases, Currently Hospitalized, and Deaths 🚩 Increasing 7-day average week-over-week for Cases, Hospitalized, and Deaths ✅ Goal met.

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the daily (columns) and 7-day average (line) of cases reported.

The scale might change soon (almost record number of new cases reported yesterday).