ECONOMIC UPDATES

Last Week in the News

Pending home sales, a forward-looking indicator based on signed contracts, rose 8.2% in May after a revised 11% decrease in April. On a year-over-year basis, pending sales are up 13.4%.

 

Retail sales rose 2.9% for the week ending June 25, according to the ICSC-Goldman Sachs index. On a year-over-year basis, retailers saw sales increase 3%.

 

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city housing price index — on a non-seasonally adjusted basis — rose 0.7% in April after a 0.9% decrease in March. It was the first monthly increase in eight months.

 

The consumer confidence index fell to a seven-month low of 58.5 in June from an upwardly revised 61.7 in May. The index was benchmarked at 100 in 1985, a year chosen because it was neither a peak nor a trough in consumer confidence.

 

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted composite index of mortgage applications for the week ending June 24 fell 2.7%. Refinancing applications decreased 2.6%. Purchase volume fell 3%.

 

The Institute for Supply Management reported that the monthly composite index of manufacturing activity rose to 55.3 in June after a reading of 53.5 in May. A reading above 50 signals expansion. It was the 23rd straight month of expansion.

 

Total construction spending fell 0.6% to $757.9 billion in May, following a revised 0.6% decrease in April. Economists had anticipated a decrease of 0.3% in May.

 

Initial claims for unemployment benefits fell by 1,000 to 428,000 for the week ending June 25. Continuing claims for the week ending June 18 fell by 12,000 to 3.7 million.

 

Upcoming on the economic calendar are reports on factory orders on July 5, jobless claims on July 7 and wholesale trade on July 8.

Provided by:

Judy Haller

Prospect Mortgage

3985 Prince William Co. Pkwy., Suite 104

Woodbridge, VA 22192

Office: (703) 590-7132