Labor/Economy

Despite outbreaks of international brouhaha, American consumers were a little more optimistic in June than in May, though not quite as much as economists had expected.

U.S. housing starts in June came in at an annualized rate of 893,000 units, according to the Census Bureau on Thursday.

According to the latest Beige Book, which was released by the Federal Reserve, all 12 Federal Reserve Districts reported expanding economic activity.

Retail sales were up 0.2 percent in June compared with May, according to the Census Bureau, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes. Total sales for the month came in at $439.9 billion, up 4.3 percent from June 2013.

Citigroup agreed to pay $7 billion to settle charges levied by the U.S. Department of Justice that the banking giant routinely and brazenly securitized and sold vast numbers of bum mortgages to investors in 2006 and ’07, and knew it was doing so.

It’s been a while since the euro-zone crisis rumbled loud enough to bother investors around the world, but late last week Portugal halted trade in Banco Espirito Santo, which is the banking arm of one of that country’s largest conglomerate, with regulators citing “irregularities” in its accounts and asserting that it’s in “serious financial condition.”

Trulia reported that in June, U.S. home prices were up 8.1 percent year-over-year, and 2.6 percent quarter-over-quarter, both of which reflect a slowdown in average price increases.

The Federal Reserve’s massive, two-year stimulus of the economy—occasionally still called QE3—is now set to ride off into the sunset, according to the latest minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee.