Last Week in the News –Mortgage applications for the week ending June 27, 2008 increased 3.6% from the previous week, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported July 2. Refis were up 4.7%, while purchase volume increased 2.8%.
The upward trend in mortgage application volume could continue if mortgage rates fall as they did last week (ending July 3), reversing a three-week rise, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage rate survey. The easing was due in part to economists’ expectations that inflation will moderate later this year.
Employers cut payrolls by 62,000 in June, the sixth straight month of nationwide job losses, about what analysts expected, the Labor Department said July 3. So far this year, the economy has lost 438,000 jobs, an average of 73,000 a month. The unemployment rate held steady at 5.5%.
The Labor Department also reported that the number of new applicants filing for jobless benefits reached 404,000 for the week ending June 28, an increase of 16,000 from the previous week. Economists had expected initial jobless claims to total 385,000.
Those working saw average hourly earnings rise to $18.01 in June, a 0.3% increase from May, in line with economists’ forecasts.
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported on July 1 that its manufacturing index came in at 50.2, a surprising expansion for the first time in five months. A reading above 50 indicates growth.
The ISM’s services sector index, which provides a snapshot of the U.S. service economy, slipped to 48.2 in June from 51.7 in May. A reading below 50 signals contraction. Economists had predicted a reading of 51.0. Weighing on the index were higher oil prices that curtail consumer spending everywhere from the local coffee shop to the neighborhood mall.
Due out on July 11 is the Commerce Department’s report on the nation’s international trade balance.
Economic data compiled from government reports and news services Bloomberg.com, msnbc.com, cnbc.com, cnn.money.com and Yahoo Economic Calendar.
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