Despite continuing improvement in builder confidence, housing starts slipped in July to 746,000 with single-family starts accounting for decline, the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development reported jointly Thursday. Housing permits though improved to 812,000, the highest level in almost four years. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected 750,000 starts and 766,000 permits in July. Total housing completions in June rose to 668,000, the highest level since June 2010.

Builder confidence improved two points in August to 37, its highest level since February 2007, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported Wednesday. Economists had expected the index to remain flat at 35. The improvement in the index in August marked the fourth straight month-month gain.

First time claims for unemployment insurance fell 6,000 for the week ended Aug 4 to 361,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected 367,000 initial claims. The prior week├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós total was revised up to 367,000 from the originally reported 365,000.

Commercial banks eased standards for residential mortgage loans to meet a sharp increase in demand in the second quarter, the Federal Reserve reported Monday in its quarterly survey of bank lending standards. According to the quarterly survey, a net 52.5 percent of bank officers responding to the Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey reported increased demand for traditional mortgage loans in the second quarter compared with a net 30.2 percent reporting stronger demand in the first quarter.

The nation added a surprising 163,000 jobs in July but the unemployment rate ticked up to 8.3 percent as the number of people working actually declined, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. At the same time, June's paltry job gains originally reported at 80,000 were reduced to 64,000 while May├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós job numbers edged up to 87,000 from 77,000. Average weekly hours remained 34.5 and average hourly earnings rose to $19.77 from $19.75, continuing pressure on household incomes, as the economic recovery sputters along.

First time claims for unemployment insurance rose 8,000 for the week ended July 28 to 365,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected 370,000 initial claims. The prior week├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós total was revised up to 357,000 from the originally reported 353,000. Continuing claims ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô reported on a one-week lag ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô fell 19,000 to 3,272,000 from the prior week's 3,291,000, revised from the originally reported 3,297,000. The numbers reflected a slightly stronger labor picture after a volatile few weeks.

Personal income rose $61.8 billion in June but consumers held on to it as personal spending fell 1.3 billion in the month, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. The increase in income ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô 0.5 percent ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô topped expectations of a 0.4 percent boost, but the 0.01 percent decline in spending fell short of the 0.1 percent increase economists had expected. Disposable personal income ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô essentially after-tax income ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô rose $52.4 billion in June. Personal savings as a percentage of disposable (after tax) income rose to 4.4 percent in June from 4.0 percent in May.

Home prices rose sharply in May cutting the year-over-year drop in prices to 0.7 percent from 1.8 percent in April, Standard & Poor's reported Tuesday in its Case-Shiller Home Price Index. Prices in the 20 cities surveyed rose 2.2 percent month-over-month, the strongest such gain since the 20-city index began in January 2000. The 10-city index also improved 2.2 percent in May, shaving the year-over-year decline in price to 1.0 percent in May from 2.2 percent in April. The month-over-month increase fell short of the 2.3 percent gain registered in June 2004.

The nation's homeownership rate rose to 65.5 percent in the second quarter, according to the Census Bureau. The rate for the first quarter, however, was revised downward from the originally reported 65.5 percent to 65.4 percent, the lowest since Q1 1997 when the rate was also 65.4 percent. The Census Bureau also reported the number of housing units for sale fell to 1,595,000 in the second quarter, a drop of 364,000 from a year earlier. Over the same period, the number of housing units held off the market increased 265,000 to 7,612,000.

The U.S. economy grew at a disappointing 1.5 percent in the second quarter, the Labor Department reported Friday, down from an upwardly revised 2.0 percent growth rate in the first quarter but better than expected. Economists had forecast GDP to grow at 1.2 percent in the second quarter. A drop in government spending ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô primarily at the state and local level ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô held growth down. The growth pace is below the 3.0 percent level need to add jobs to make a dent in the nation's unemployment rate. Between 2008 and 2011, real GDP increased at an average annual rate of 0.3 percent, Labor said.