Yesterday's somewhat weak economic releases add to a pattern of recent tepid results from a number of economic indicators, and suggest that an economic slowdown is gathering steam even before the end of QE2.
We cite the following as evidence.
Existing home sales for April were down 0.5%
Existing home sales for April were down 0.5% to 5.05 million as compared to 7.2 million at the peak. Inventories of homes for sale increased to a 9.2 months, the highest since December while prices were down 5% from a year earlier.
April housing starts were below any level prior to 2008
April housing starts dropped 10.2% to 523,000, barely above the recession lows, and below any level prior to 2008. According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) traffic of potential buyers was still extremely low. Keep in mind that this is an organization that usually puts a positive spin on any results.
Initial claims have been over 400K for six weeks
While weekly initial claims for unemployment insurance declined to 409,000 from the prior week, the number has now been over 400,000 for six straight weeks after a period of coming in below that level.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
For the latest investing news, visit Money Game. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
See Also:
- The Man Who Wrote The Book On This Economy Demolishes Bernanke's QE2 "Gamble"
- The Awful Numbers Behind Today's Philly Fed Disaster
- 10 States Where Distressed Homes Will Be Flooding The Market For Years
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheMoneyGame/~3/3QpnAQIbhsw/economic-slowdown-is-already-here-2011-05
Guide To Financial Fitness Money Game Tech Crunch Personal Finance News & Advice
No comments:
Post a Comment