Labor/Economy
Economy Watch: Existing Homes Sales Rise in April
The National Association of Realtors reported that total existing-home sales rose 1.3 percent in April to an annualized rate of 4.65 million units, compared with 4.59 million units in March.
Economy Watch: FOMC Mulls Monetary Policy Normalization
Monetary policy hasn’t been normal for quite a while now, and investors, economists and other observers have been wondering out loud when that’s going to change.
Economy Watch: Negative Equity Continues to Drop
Zillow has released its latest Negative Equity Report, which says that the national negative equity rate was 18.8 percent in the first quarter of 2014 (that is, the percentage of mortgaged owner-occupied homes with negative equity).
‘Economy Watch’ Podcast with Dees Stribling: Retail Sales Flat
Retail sales flat, but at least the weather’s good.
Economy Watch: E-Commerce Retail Continues to Expand
The Census Bureau reported that U.S. e-commerce retail sales for the first quarter of 2014, adjusted for seasonal variation, but not for price changes, was $71.2 billion, an increase of 2.8 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2013.
Economy Watch: Housing Starts Gain Ground in April
The Census Bureau reported that private housing starts came in at an annualized rate of 1.072 million units in April, a sizable 13.2 percent upswing from March, when starts were an annualized 947,000 units.
Economy Watch: Homebuilders Confidence a Little Rattled
The National Association of Homebuilders reported that builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes weakened a bit in May.
Economy Watch: FHFA Not Focusing on GSE Wind Down
The new director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Melvin L. Watt, used his first major speech at the Brookings Institution to emphasize a change in focus for his agency, which is the conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, currently the linchpins of the nation’s residential property finance.
Economy Watch: Retail Sales Eke Out Small April Gain
Retail sales barely budged in April compared with March, according to the Census Bureau.