Economy Watch: Economy Creates Mediocre 162k Jobs
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the economy created 162,000 jobs.
Economy Watch: 2Q GDP Surprises on the Upside
By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor In recent weeks, prognosticators have been predicting that U.S. real gross domestic product would barely increase at all in the second quarter. On Wednesday, the Bureau of Economic Analysis released its first, or “advance,” estimate of real GDP for 2Q13: an annualized increase of 1.7 percent. Though not especially robust, growth was better than expected. In the first quarter, real GDP increased by only 1.1 percent, annualized. The increase in real GDP in the second quarter reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (people out buying stuff), exports (foreigners buying our stuff), nonresidential fixed investment…
‘Economy Watch’ Podcast with Dees Stribling: New Home Prices Continue to Rise
New home prices continue to rise, and values are still edging up too in almost every US market.
Economy Watch: Home Prices Rise Everywhere
U.S. residential prices continued their upward climb in May, according to the latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices.
Economy Watch: Pending Home Sales See Downtick
The National Association of Realtors reported on Monday that its Pending Home Sales Index dropped a notch in June to 110.9 from May’s reading of 111.3. The May reading was the index’s highest level since before the housing bubble burst; back in December 2006, the index maxed out at 112.8.
Economy Watch: Consumer Sentiment Unexpectedly Peppy
The University of Michigan reported on Friday that its consumer sentiment index for July came in at 85.1, an improvement from June’s final reading of 84.1, and also up from the mid-July reading of 83.9.
Economy Watch: Interest Rates Cool a Bit
Mortgage interest rates spiked unexpectedly a few weeks ago and have been easing off since.
Economy Watch: New Home Sales Rise in June
The Census Bureau reported on Wednesday that new home sales in June were at an annualized rate 497,000 units, representing an 8.3 percent increase from May, when sales were an annualized 459,000 units.
Economy Watch: More Housing Indexes Point Upward
U.S. house price appreciation continued in May, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, rising 0.7 percent from the previous month, as measured by the agency’s monthly House Price Index.
Economy Watch: Total Existing-Home Sales Dropped
The National Association of Realtors reported that total existing-home sales dropped 1.2 percent in June to an annualized rate of 5.08 million units—including single-family, condos, co-ops and townhouses—from a downwardly revised 5.14 million units in May.