Daily Roundup of Key US Economic Data for Feb. 19

02:25 PM EST, 02/19/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Initial jobless claims decreased by 23,000 to 206,000 in the employment survey week ended Feb. 14, lowering the four-week moving average by 1,000 to 219,000 after three straight increases.

Initial claims were at a level of 210,000 in the employment survey week ending Jan. 17.

Insured claims rose by 17,000 to 1.869 million in the week ended Feb. 7.

Natural gas stocks fell by 144 billion cubic feet to 2.070 trillion cubic feet in the week ended Feb. 13, down 2.8% from a year earlier and 5.6% lower than the seasonal average for the current week over the previous five years.

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's manufacturing reading rose to 16.3 in February from 12.6 in January after a small decline in the New York Fed's index released earlier in the week.

The National Association of Realtors' pending home sales index fell by 0.8% in January and was down 0.4% from a year earlier. NAR said that demand should begin to pick up in the coming months, but increased supply is needed.

The NAR's existing-home sales data for February are scheduled for release on March 10.

The index of leading indicators fell by 0.2% in December after a 0.3% drop in November due to large drops in business expectations, new orders and manufacturing weekly hours.

The international trade deficit widened to $70.31 billion in December as imports increased and exports declined.

Wholesale inventories rose by 0.2% for the second straight month in December, while retail inventories held steady after a 0.5% decline, according to advance data.

Total crude oil inventories fell by 8.8 million barrels in the week ended Feb. 13, with commercial oil inventories down 9 million barrels and stocks in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve up 200,000 barrels. Gasoline inventories and distillate inventories both decreased last week.

The final Q4 GDPnow estimate from the Atlanta Fed is for a 3.0% gain, revised down from a 3.6% gain in the previous estimate.

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