Labor/Economy

The Federal Open Market Committee issued a statement about the economy and what it plans to do in the near future about its stubborn sluggishness.

The Census Bureau reported that U.S. housing starts in May came in at an annualized rate of 708,000 units, which is 4.8 percent below the revised April estimate of 744,000 units per year.

Polls closed in Greece at noon Eastern time on Sunday, and preliminary results indicated that the pro-bailout New Democracy party won about 30 percent of the seats in the Greek parliament.

RealtyTrac reported that U.S. foreclosure filings spiked 9 percent in May compared with April, by which the company means an aggregation of properties vexed by default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions.

American shoppers pulled back a bit in May, according to the Census Bureau.

“Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2007 to 2010: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances,” which the Fed released this week, quantified one painful aspect of the very real economic impact of the Panic of 2008 and subsequent Great Recession. The report shows that over the four years from 2007 to 2010, real median household income before taxes fell 7.7 percent.

On Sunday, Spain became the largest of the euro-zone countries to request a bailout, and European finance ministers agreed that banks of the beleaguered nation could receive up to $125 billion, or 100 million euro, in funds to keep them afloat.

CoreLogic reported that U.S. home prices–including distressed sales–increased by 1.1 percent on a year-over-year basis in April.