Tag Archives: Mark Lieberman

Driven by stronger auto sales (but held back by falling gasoline prices), total retail sales increased an unexpected 0.1 percent in April, the Census Bureau reported Monday. Economists had expected sales to fall 0.3 percent. Sales at building material and supply stores jumped $389 million for the month, a 1.5 percent increase--the largest month-over-month increase since September. Sales at furniture and home furnishings stores were flat to March. Those two retail categories have a direct relationship to home sales.

When the Federal Open Market Committee completed its two-day meeting at the beginning of May, it issued the usual six-paragraph post-meeting statement.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance for the week ending May 4 dropped 4,000 to 323,000-- once again, the lowest level in more than five years, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected initial claims to increase to 335,000. First-time jobless claims for the week ending April 27 were revised up to 327,000 from the originally reported 324,000.

Hiring fell 4.3 percent in March, the same month in which payroll job growth plunged, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Tuesday in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). Data from the report indicated there were 11.2 unemployed construction workers for every available job in March, up from 9.0 in February. By industry, the number of unemployed persons per job opening also increased in the manufacturing and information sectors.

The percentage of banks reporting stronger demand for mortgage loans rose in the second quarter, the Federal Reserve reported, with more banks easing lending standards.

The economy added 165,000 jobs in April, and the unemployment rate dropped to 7.5.percent, its lowest level since December 2008, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday. Economists had forecast payrolls would grow by 153,000, and that the unemployment rate would remain at 7.6 percent.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance for the week ending April 27 dropped 18,000 to 324,000, the lowest level in more than five years, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected claims to increase to 354,000 initial claims. Initial jobless claims for the week ending April 20 were revised up to 344,000 from the originally reported 342,000.

With a swipe at both the President and the Congress and concerns about downside risks to the economy, the Federal Open Market Committee voted 11-1 Wednesday to leave interest rates unchanged and to continue its program of purchasing agency mortgage backed securities and longer term Treasury securities to maintain downward pressure on longer-term interest rates, support mortgage markets, and help to make broader financial conditions more accommodative. Kansas City Fed President Esther George cast the lone negative vote.

The nation's homeownership rate fell to 65 percent in the first quarter of 2013, according to data from the Census Bureau.

Despite weakness in the Midwest, home prices posted their strongest year-over-year gain in almost seven years in February, according to the Case-Shiller 10- and 20-city Home Price Indexes released Tuesday. Month-over-month, the 10-city index improved 0.4 percent in February, while the 20-city index was up 0.3 percent. On a yearly basis, the 10-city index was up 8.6 percent, and the 20-city index rose 9.3 percent. Economists had forecast the 20-city index would rise slightly to 146.16, essentially unchanged from January.