Sales of new homes increased by 4.4% in July to 714,000, according to Commerce Department data released on Wednesday. … READ MORE >
Federal Reserve
Existing home sales fall near January low as rates surge
July sales were much lower than expected, dropping by 2.2% on the month compared to a forecasted decline of only 0.2% earlier. … READ MORE >
Consumer products M&A cooled in the first half
Merger and acquisition activity among consumer products companies took a breather in the first half of the year as valuations were reset amid rising interest rates. … READ MORE >
Rates outlook: As economy enters glide path, bond market hedges its bets
Even as the economy shows positive trends like slowing inflation and a healthy labor market, the bond market is showing anxiety. … READ MORE >
U.S. July jobs report: Gradual and orderly cooling in the labor market
The 187,000 net change in total employment and a 3.5% unemployment rate in July show cooling demand by firms as the economy grows near its 1.8% long-term trend. … READ MORE >
Fed survey of loan officers shows rising impact of higher interest rates
The Federal Reserve’s latest survey of bank lending officers confirms that the dampening effect of monetary-policy tightening on borrowing and lending continued in the second quarter. … READ MORE >
RSM US Manufacturing Outlook Index: A continued decline in July
The RSM US Manufacturing Outlook Index slipped back to 1.8 standard deviations below normal, the 15th consecutive month of negative values. … READ MORE >
New data points to further economic slowdown and disinflation
Job openings fell to 9.58 million in June, the lowest since April 2021, according to government data released on Tuesday. … READ MORE >
RSM US Financial Conditions Index moving toward neutral
With the money market at normal levels of risk, and with surging equities balancing out the caution displayed in the bond market, our composite financial conditions market is fast approaching neutral. … READ MORE >
Fed’s key wage gauge falls to lowest level since June 2021
The Employment Cost Index—the Federal Reserve’s closely watched metric on wage growth—increased by 1.0% in the second quarter, the slowest since June 2021. … READ MORE >