Tag Archive for ‘eye on the economy’

Eye on the Economy: Weak Employment Report for September

***Eye on the Economy is a biweekly survey of NAHB’s economic and housing analysis from Chief Economist David Crowe. A disappointing jobs report sounded a note a caution concerning recent labor market momentum. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that payroll employment expanded by only 142,000 in September, with revisions to the previous two months subtracting an additional 59,000 jobs. Residential… Read More ›

Consumer Confidence Rebounded in September

The Conference Board released its Consumer Confidence Index for September. The index is a composite of separate indexes tracking consumers’ assessments of current business, income and employment conditions, as well as their expectations for the future. The Consumer Confidence Index increased to a level of 103.0 in September from 101.3 in August. The present situation index rose to 121.1 from… Read More ›

Existing Home Sales vs. Home Prices

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and the Standard and Poor’s/Case-Shiller (CS) recently released their respective home price indexes for July. The FHFA index shows house price appreciation accelerated to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 7.3% in July. The CS index shows house prices rose at an annual growth rate of 4.6% in July. Both indexes have been rising… Read More ›

Big Drops in Energy Prices in August

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) declined at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.8% in August, compared to 1.6% rise in July. Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the “core” CPI rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.9% in August, slower than 1.6% in July. In August, energy prices… Read More ›

Eye on the Economy: Growth for July Sales

***Eye on the Economy is a biweekly survey of NAHB’s economic and housing analysis from Chief Economist David Crowe. July housing data brought good news for both the newly built and existing home markets. July newly built homes sales, as reported by the Census Bureau and HUD, rose 5.4% from June and 25.8% from July 2014. The increase brings annual new… Read More ›

Slow Rise in Consumer Prices in July

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported consumer prices increased in July. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.6%, slower than 3.9% in June. Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the “core” CPI rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.6% in July. Energy prices were stabilized and rose at a… Read More ›

Unexpected Decline in Consumer Confidence in July

Consumer sentiment and consumer confidence are two indexes showing consumers’ perceptions of current business, income and employment conditions, as well as their expectations for the future’s economy. In July, both the University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment and the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index declined unexpectedly after the solid growth in June. Despite the monthly declines the indexes have… Read More ›

Home Price Growth Continues to Moderate in May

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and the Standard and Poor’s/Case-Shiller recently released their respective home price indexes for May. The House Price Index (HPI) data reported by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) shows house prices rose at an annual growth rate of 5.4% in May, higher than the 4.7% in April and the 3.8% in March. The Standard… Read More ›