A WEEKLY ECONOMIC UPDATE FROM CONGRESSMAN GREGORY W. MEEKS

ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

Employment

• The private sector created 83,000 jobs in June, and the unemployment rate fell to 9.5%. This is the sixth straight month of job growth in the private sector. The fall in total employment reflected a decrease in temporary Census jobs. [BLS]

• 9,000 manufacturing jobs were created in June. The industry has added 136,000 jobs since December. [BLS]

• The four-week moving average of continued claims for unemployment insurance is 4.568 million, down 99,250 from four weeks earlier. [Labor]

Industrial Sector

• For the 11th consecutive month, the manufacturing sector expanded. The purchasing managers’ index registered 56.2 in June. Of the 18 industries surveyed, 13 reported growth. [ISM]

Consumers

• Real disposable personal income grew by 0.5% in May. This follows a revised 0.6% rise in April. In addition, nominal personal income rose by 0.4% in May, and real personal consumption expenditures increased by 0.3%. [BEA]

Housing

• Home prices across 20 cities rose in April, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller index. Partly reflecting the first-time homebuyers’ tax credit, prices were up 0.8% from a month earlier and 3.8% from a year earlier. [S&P/Case-Shiller]