Dees Stribling
Economy Watch: Home Prices, Construction Spending, Purchasing Managers Index
Home prices, including distressed sales, increased 7.4 percent in July 2014 compared with the same month a year earlier, while construction spending increased to an annualized rate of $981.3 billion and the purchasing managers index increased 1.9 percentage points in August.
Economy Watch: August Results for Personal Spending, Consumer Confidence
Personal income, savings and consumer sentiment were all up in August; personal consumption and confidence in the future of the economy declined.
Economy Watch: Revised GDP Growth, Bank Incomes, Unemployment Claims
Revised GDP numbers show an improved annualized rate, while the FDIC reports that bank net incomes are up. The Department of Labor also reports that unemployment claims dropped for the week ending Aug. 23.
Economy Watch: Federal Deficit, Mortgage Delinquencies
The Congressional Budget Office estimated on Wednesday the federal budget deficit for fiscal year 2014.
Economy Watch: Home Prices, Negative Equity
The latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, which were released on Tuesday by S&P Dow Jones Indices, show a sustained slowdown in U.S. home price increase, and the national negative equity rate continued to decline in the second quarter, according to the Zillow Negative Equity Report.
Economy Watch: Census Bureau, Black Knight Report on Home Sales
Home sales are weaker than expected in July, but still up 12.3 percent year-over-year.
Economy Watch: Yellen on Employment, Labor Day Travel
Economists, investors and other observers watched on Friday for hints about interest rate changes in Yellen’s speech at the powwow of central bankers in Jackson Hole, but she didn’t oblige. And AAA forecasts Labor Day traffic.
Economy Watch: U.S. Existing Home Sales, Manufacturing Production Levels
The National Association of Realtors reports that home sales are at the highest level for 2014, while the Markit Flash U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index shows an unexpected rise for July.
Economy Watch: Housing Starts, Inflation
U.S. housing starts jumped in July compared with June, according to the Census Bureau, while the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an increase of 0.1 percent in the Consumer Price Index.
Economy Watch: State Unemployment Rates, Homebuilder Confidence
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that most states had unemployment rate increases over the past month, while the NAHB finds that homebuilder confidence ticked up to its highest level in the past seven months.