Government reports on housing, consumer prices and jobs today show the national economy has hit a sweet spot of strong growth and minimal inflation in December.
Housing starts climbed 4.5 percent, jobless claims dipped to the lowest in 11 months, and consumer prices excluding volatile food and energy rose 0.2 percent, according to Bloomberg.
In the Midwest, construction of single family homes was up 1.8 percent, driven partly by unseasonably warm weather.
Sandra Pianalto, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, said the reports are encouraging, but stopped short of ruling out the need for an interest rate increase to slow inflation.
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