Como se combate o populismo? "Com eleições", responde Fukuyama

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8:45am 12/20/05 U.S. NOV. HOUSING STARTS RISE 5.3% TO 2.123 MLN UNITS

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- New construction of U.S. homes rose 5.3% in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.123 million, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.
Building permits - which foreshadow future activity - increased 2.5% to 2.155 million annual units.
The increase was unexpected. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected starts to remain almost flat in November.
"Housing once again shows its strength -- the zombie market that just won't die," said Robert Brusca, chief economist at FAO Economics.

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8:30am 12/20/05 U.S. NOV PPI ENERGY PRICES DOWN 4.0%
8:30am 12/20/05 U.S. CORE PPI UP 1.7% IN PAST 12 MONTHS
8:30am 12/20/05 U.S. PPI UP 4.4% IN PAST 12 MONTHS
8:30am 12/20/05 U.S. NOV. PPI DECLINE LARGEST SINCE APRIL 2003
8:30am 12/20/05 U.S. NOV. CORE PPI UP 0.1%, VS. RISE 0.2% EXPECTED
8:30am 12/20/05 U.S. NOV. PPI DOWN 0.7% VS. FALL 0.3% EXPECTED

ECONOMIC REPORT: PPI has largest drop in 31 months; Energy pushes index down 0.7%, core up 0.1%
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
Last Update: 8:31 AM ET Dec. 20, 2005

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - U.S. prices of raw materials and other producers' inputs fell 0.7% in November, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.

This is the largest monthly decline since April 2003.

Excluding food and energy costs, the core PPI rose 0.1%.

The PPI report was tamer than expected.

Economists were expecting the PPI to only fall 0.3% and the core rate to rise 0.2%.

The PPI had increased 0.7% in October, while the core PPI had fallen 0.3%.

The PPI is now up 4.4% in the past 12 months, down from 5.9% last month. The core PPI has risen 1.7% in the past year, down from 1.9% last month.

Over the year, inflation is not much worse than last year. For the first 11 months of the year, the PPI is running at a 5.2% annual rate, compared with a 5.1% rate over the same period last year.

In fact, the core rate is lower than last year. Core prices have risen 1.8% over the first eleven months of the year, down from a 2.2% rate last year.

In November, futher back in the production cycle, crude goods prices fell 1.2% in November but were still up 21% year-on-year. But core crude good prices rose 5.4% in the month.

Prices for intermediate goods destined for further processing fell 1.2%, led by a 6.6% drop in energy prices, but were up 8.4% over the past 12 months.

The core intermediate PPI rose 0.5% in November.

Energy continued to be the story in November. Finished energy prices fell 4.0% in the month, also the largest decline since April 2003.

Prices for home heating oil fell 15.5%, while liquefied petroleum gas prices fell 12.2%.

Auto prices fell 0.8%, the largest decline in four years.

Food prices rose 0.5% as fresh citrus fruit prices jumped 35.2%, the biggest increase since January 1999.