Last Week in the News

Last Week in the News

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city housing price index — on a seasonally adjusted basis — rose 0.3% in June after a 0.5% increase in May. Home prices are 6% above the April 2009 bottom, but 28% below their peak in July 2006.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted composite index of mortgage applications for the week ending August 27 increased 2.7%. Refinancing applications rose 2.8%. Purchase volume rose 1.8%. Refinancing made up 82.9% of total applications, the highest level since January 2009.

The Institute for Supply Management reported that the monthly composite index of manufacturing activity was 56.3 in August after reaching 55.5 in July. Economists had anticipated a reading of 53.2. A reading above 50 signals expansion. It was the 13th straight month of expansion.

Total construction spending fell 1% to $805.2 billion in July, following a downwardly revised $813.1 billion in June. Economists had anticipated a drop of 0.6% in July.

The National Association of Realtors reported that its pending home sales index, a forward-looking indicator based on signed contracts, rose 5.2% in July after a revised 2.8% decrease in June.

The Institute for Supply Management reported that the monthly composite index of non-manufacturing activity fell to 51.5 in August from 54.3 in July. A reading above 50 signals expansion.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits fell by 6,000 to 472,000 for the week ending August 28. Continuing claims for the week ending August 21 fell by 23,000 to 4.4 million. The unemployment rate rose to 9.6% in August from 9.5% in July.

Upcoming on the economic calendar are reports on consumer credit on September 8, international trade on September 9 and wholesale trade on September 10.

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