A WEEKLY ECONOMIC UPDATE FROM CONGRESSMAN GREGORY W. MEEKS

ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

Industrial Sector

• Shipments of core capital goods increased by a strong 1.6% in May and have now increased for nine of the past 12 months. So far in the second quarter, shipments of core capital goods have increased at a 16% annual rate. This suggests that the real equipment and software investment component of GDP will grow strongly as well. [Commerce]

Employment

• Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell by 19,000 to 457,000 in the week ended June 19. The four-week moving average of continued UI claims is 4.587 million, down 57,750 from four weeks earlier. [Labor]

Consumers

• Consumer confidence edged up in June. The final June reading on the Reuters/University of Michigan index was 76.0, the highest level since January 2008. [Reuters/Michigan]

Business Investment

• Chief executives continue to predict economic improvement over the next six months. The Business Roundtable’s CEO economic outlook index rose to 94.6 in the second quarter and stands at its highest level since 2006. [Business Roundtable]

Housing

Home values increased 0.8% in April. This was the second consecutive increase in the FHFA purchase-only house price index. House prices have fallen substantially less steeply during the last 12 months than in the previous year. [FHFA]