- Real GDP increased at an annual rate of 0.8% in the first quarter of 2016, according to the “second” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, after increasing at 1.4% in the previous quarter. In the “advance” estimate, released a month ago, real GDP increased 0.5%.
- Real gross domestic income (GDI) increased 2.2% for the first quarter, compared with an increase of 1.9% in the previous quarter.
- The average of real GDP and real GDI increased 1.5% in the first quarter, compared with an increase of 1.7% in the final quarter of 2015.
- The price index for gross domestic purchases increased 0.2% in the first quarter, compared to an increase of 1.0% in the previous quarter. Excluding food and energy prices, the price index for gross domestic purchases increased 1.4%.
- Corporate profits from current production increased $6.5 billion in the first quarter, after an increase of $159.6 billion in the previous quarter.
- New orders for manufactured durable goods increased 3.4% in April, while shipments increased 0.6%.
- April new home sales increased 16.6% to an annualized rate of 619 thousand units. The median sales price of new houses sold was $321.1 thousand, 9.7% above April 2015.
- U.S. House prices rose 0.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis from February to March, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) monthly House Price Index. For the 12 months ending in March, U.S. prices rose 6.1%.
- The Pending Home Sales Index, a leading indicator for the housing sector, increased 5.1% to a reading of 116.3 in April, according to the National Association of Realtors. The index was 4.6% above the April 2015 level.
- The results of Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed average fixed mortgage rates increasing. Despite this increase, the average for the month was 3.60%, the lowest monthly average in 3 years. 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.64% for the week ending May 26, up from last week when it averaged 3.58%, A year ago at this time, the 30-year fixed-rate averaged 3.87%.
- Mortgage applications increased 2.3% from a week earlier, according to data from Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey for the week ending May 20th.
- The advance figure for initial claims for unemployment insurance decreased 10 thousand to 268 thousand in the week ending May 21. The 4-week moving average was 278.5 thousand, an increase of 2.75 thousand from the previous week’s average.
- The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment for May rose to 94.7, from 89.0 in April. This was the fifth highest reading since January 2007. The current conditions index increased to 109.9 in May from 106.7, while the expectations index increased to 84.9 from 77.6.
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