Retail Sales and Housing Data: What’s Happening This Week

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What's Happening Today

Have you changed your shopping habits lately to adjust to higher prices? On Wednesday we'll see if inflation is causing shoppers to slow down the pace of their spending, and in what categories, when retail sales numbers are released. Inflation, while still high, declined to 7.7% in October from 8.2% the month prior.

Despite higher costs for goods and services, consumers have continued to hit the stores so far, keeping the economy going strong. With low levels of unemployment, many Americans still have jobs, and with wages rising as employers try to attract workers, many of us have money in our pockets to buy things.

Stubbornly high levels of inflation have caused the Federal Reserve to adopt an aggressive stance by hiking interest rates, which has also had knock-on effects in the real estate market. With every rate hike from the Fed, mortgage rates have continued to rise, causing many interested buyers to sit on the sidelines and wait. We'll see just how much of a slowdown this has caused when reports on home sales and housing construction are released on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

Stocks are mixed today after a strong week of gains last week, boosted by optimism following the lower-than-expected inflation figures. The fall in inflation raised hopes that when policymakers at the central bank meet next month, they might not hit us with another jumbo-sized rate hike.

- Kristin

Editors' Picks

China, Fed Rate Hikes, Real Estate: Here Are 2023's Economic Risks (Bloomberg)

Home Price Declines Cost Average Owner $30,000 In Equity (The Balance)

Labor Market Mystery: Where Are the Older Gen Z Workers? - WSJ (The Wall Street Journal)

Are You in Danger of Getting Fired or Laid Off? (The Balance)

Should I Switch Insurance Before Having a Baby? (The Balance)

10 Ways Your Budget Changes When You Start a Family (The Balance)

5 Things To Consider With Open Enrollment (The Balance)

Term of the Day

Open Enrollment

Open enrollment is a period when people can enroll in a health care plan or make changes to existing coverage. Held annually, usually in the fall, open enrollment may also apply to other types of benefits, such as dental, pet, and life insurance.

Open enrollment applies to employer-sponsored health insurance and coverage purchased from a government Marketplace. Typically, open enrollment periods for employer-sponsored insurance run for at least two to four weeks. Open enrollment for Marketplace plans runs from November 1 to January 15 of the following year.

The open enrollment process can differ by benefit sponsor. Some open enrollment processes require you to take action every year, while others only need your input when you must add, change, or eliminate a benefit.

Employers that only offer one health plan might not extend an open enrollment period. Open enrollment doesn't apply to the U.S. federal government's Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and Medicaid programs, which allow qualified applicants to apply for benefits at any time.

Off the Charts

The average credit card interest rate for purchases is now 22.19%, according to October data collected by The Balance, as Fed interest rate hikes push annual percentage rates (APRs) higher.