• May 30, 2017
• no comment
• realestatelife

Consumer confidence fell in May for the second month in a row, suggesting Americans have tempered their expectations for the economy after a huge burst of optimism earlier in the year. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index dropped to 117.9 in May from 119.4 in April. Just three months earlier, consumer confidence hit

• May 26, 2017
• no comment
• realestatelife

Orders for long-lasting goods such as planes and appliances fell in April for the first time in five months, suggesting that a resurgent U.S. manufacturing industry has cooled off a bit. Durable-goods orders dropped 0.7% last month amid weakness in most key segments of heavy industry. The decline follows four straight increases, including a revised

• May 26, 2017
• no comment
• realestatelife

Turns out the U.S. economy wasn’t totally asleep in the first three months of 2017: the government raised the growth rate to 1.2% from its original 0.7% estimate.

• May 26, 2017
• no comment
• realestatelife

Consumer sentiment ticked up fractionally in May as Americans grew more optimistic about economic growth – but more pessimistic about current conditions. The University of Michigan’s closely-watched confidence tracker rose to 97.1 from 97.0 in April. It had touched 97.7 in a mid-May reading, and economists surveyed expected no change from that reading for the

• May 25, 2017
• no comment
• realestatelife

The number of Americans applying for and receiving unemployment benefits continue to drop to levels last seen nearly a half century ago, a sign the U.S. labor market remains quite robust eight years into an economic expansion. Initial jobless claims rose by 1,000 to 234,000 in the seven days stretching from May 14 to May

• May 25, 2017
• no comment
• realestatelife

The advanced U.S. trade deficit in goods widened by 3.8% in April, while retail investors were down 0.3%.

• May 25, 2017
• no comment
• realestatelife

Federal Reserve Board Governor Lael Brainard said Thursday there is now less risk to the U.S. economy due to a healthier global economy. “As I look out at the global economy today, it is brighter than it has been probably for the last few years,” Brainard said. The euro-area is growing more solidly, the Fed

• May 24, 2017
• no comment
• realestatelife

Sales of previously-owned homes sputtered in April after a supercharged first quarter, as lean inventory continued to constrain demand. Existing-home sales ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday. That was a 2.3% decline from March’s selling pace, which was revised down a tick but still

• May 24, 2017
• no comment
• realestatelife

Federal Reserve officials were in broad agreement at their meeting on May 2-3 on a general approach to shrinking the bank’s massive balance sheet, according to minutes of the session released Wednesday. Nearly all Fed officials said they were content with a plan to end the reinvestment of principal of maturing securities – the main

• May 23, 2017
• no comment
• realestatelife

Sales of newly-constructed homes stumbled in April, as builders retreated after a March surge that marked the strongest selling pace in a decade. New home sales ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 569,000. That was well below the consensus forecast of a 610,000 annual pace, but was offset by sharp upward revisions to