Daily Roundup of Key US Economic Data for Oct. 20

02:53 PM EDT, 10/20/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Housing starts fell by 5.2% to a 1.221 million annual rate in September, with single-family and multi-family housing starts both lower. Building permits fell by 0.2% to a 1.400 million rate in September. Single-family permits declined but multi-family permits increased. Homes permitted but not started were only slightly higher. The number of homes under construction were unchanged in the month while completions increased. However, completions are still 14% below their year-ago level. The National Association of Realtors' pending home sales index fell by 7.3% in September, well below expectations. NAR attributed the drop to quickly rising mortgage rates that have negatively impacted home affordability. Pending sales were down 11.3% from a year earlier. The Philadelphia Fed's services measure fell to minus 23.6 in October from minus 22.0 in November. State unemployment data for September showed declines in five states and stable rates in the other states and in Washington, DC. Redbook reported that US same-store retail sales were up 9% year-over-year in the week ended Oct. 17, slower than a 10.4% gain in the prior week after getting a boost from pre-Columbus Day sales and Amazon Big Deal Days. Retailers expected a boost in Halloween-related sales and early-Thanksgiving sales in the coming weeks. The Q3 GDP nowcast estimate from the Atlanta Federal Reserve is for a 3.5% gain, down from the previous estimate of a 3.6% gain.