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2nd estimate of 1st Quarter GDP; April’s income and outlays, durable goods, & new home sales

The key economic reports released last week were the second estimate of 1st quarter GDP and the April report on Personal Income and Spending , both from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the April advance report on durable goods and the April report on new home sales , both from the Census bureau….This week also saw the release of the widely watched March Case-Shiller Home Price Index from S&P Case-Shiller , an index which is computed from the relative average of January, February & March home sales prices as compared to home sales prices of the same homes when they sold during previous 3 month periods; the Case Shiller index indicated that home prices nationally for those 3 months averaged 0.7% higher than prices for the same homes that sold during the same 3 month period a year earlier, down from the 0.8% year over year increase they reported for their February national index, covering home prices for December, January and February… In addition, the last two regional Fed...
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April’s new residential construction, et al

Agency issued economic reports released this week included the April report on New Residential Construction from the Census Bureau and the Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary for April from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a report which breaks down the two employment surveys from the monthly national jobs report by state and region….while the text of that report provides a useful summary of this data, the serious statistical aggregation can be found in the tables linked at the end of the report, where one can find the civilian labor force data and the change in payrolls by industry for each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands… This week also saw two more regional Fed manufacturing surveys for May:… the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey , covering most of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and Delaware, reported their broadest diffusion index of manufacturing conditions fell to –0.4 in May, down from +26.7 in April, wh...
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April’s consumer and producer prices, retail sales, industrial production, & existing home sales; March business inventories

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Regular monthly reports that were released last week included the April Consumer Price Index , the April Producer Price Index and the April Import-Export Price Index from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Retail Sales report for April and the Manufacturing and Trade, Inventories and Sales report for March (pdf), both from the Census Bureau, the April report on Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization from the Fed, and the Existing Home Sales Report for April from the National Association of Realtors…. This week also saw the first regional Fed manufacturing survey for May: the Empire State Manufacturing Survey from the New York Fed , which covers all of New York state, a NYC suburban county in Connecticut, northern New Jersey, and Puerto Rico, reported their headline general business conditions index rose to +19.6 in May from +11.0 in April, its highest level in more than four years, which would indicate that a solid majority of Second District manufacturers now see improv...
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April’s jobs report; March’s trade deficit, construction spending, new home sales, factory inventories, wholesale inventories, and JOLTS

Major economic reports released last week included the Employment Situation Summary for April and the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) for March, both from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Commerce Department’s report on our international trade in goods and services for March , and the March report on Construction Spending (pdf), the March report on new home sales , the Full Report on Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders for March , and the Wholesale Trade, Sales and Inventories report for March , all from the Census Bureau….in addition, the Fed released the Consumer Credit Report for March on Thursday of this week, which indicated that overall consumer credit, a measure of non-real estate debt, had grown by a seasonally adjusted $24.8 billion in March, or at a 5.8% annual rate, as non-revolving credit expanded at a 2.7% annual rate to $3,682.2 billion, while revolving credit outstanding grew at a 9.1% rate to $1,337.0 billion…for the first quarter of 2...
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