by Calculated Risk on 1/26/2022 08:22:00 PM

Thursday:
• At 8:30 AM ET, Gross Domestic Product, 4th quarter 2021 (Advance estimate). The consensus is that real GDP increased 5.4% annualized in Q4.

• Also, at 8:30 AM, The initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released.  The consensus is for a decrease to 260 thousand from 286 thousand last week.

• Also, at 8:30 AM, Durable Goods Orders for December. The consensus is for a 0.5% decrease in durable goods.

• At 10:00 AM, Pending Home Sales Index for December. The consensus is for a 0.3% increase in the index.

• At 11:00 AM, the Kansas City Fed manufacturing survey for January. This is the last of regional manufacturing surveys for January.

On COVID (focus on hospitalizations and deaths):

COVID Metrics
	Now	Week Ago	Goal
Percent fully Vaccinated	63.5%	---	≥70.0%1
Fully Vaccinated (millions)	210.9	---	≥2321
New Cases per Day3	627,294	756,355	≤5,0002
Hospitalized3	142,194	144,642	≤3,0002
Deaths per Day3🚩	2,246	1,698	≤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 positive tests reported.

New cases are now declining.

Unfortunately, deaths are still rising - now averaging over 2 thousand deaths per day - but below the previous 7-day average record of 3,421 in January 2021.