Economy in Brief: June 2012

The University of Michigan's Index of Consumer Sentiment for all of June fell to 73.2 compared to 74.1 at mid-month and 79.3 in May. The latest figure was the lowest since December and compared unfavorably to expectations for 74.4. [...]

Personal income gained an expected 0.2% (2.9% y/y) last month following an unrevised 0.2% April rise. Weaker employment growth, however, took its toll on income as wages and salaries were unchanged (3.2% y/y) after a downwardly [...]

Consumer sentiment picked up in late June from the early month reading of the University of Michigan's Index of Consumer Sentiment, putting the month's overall index at 84.1, just marginally lower than May's firm 84.5 figure. June's [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to 386,000 last week from 392,000, revised from 387,000. Consensus expectations were for 385,000 new claims. The four-week moving average of claims slipped to 386,750 but remained nearly [...]

GDP growth during last quarter was unrevised at 1.9% (SAAR), still its weakest since Q3'11. The figure matched Consensus estimates. Revised lower were corporate profits which fell 0.3% (+5.5% y/y) instead of rising 0.6% as reported [...]

Personal income regained its footing in May with a 0.5% gain; April's move, originally reported as down very marginally, was revised to a 0.1% rise. Year-on-year, income was up 3.3%, compared to the 2.8% reported last month for April. [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association index of total mortgage applications fell 7.1% (63.6% y/y) last week but nevertheless remained near the highest level since early 2009. Applications to refinance fell 8.3% (89.6% y/y) while home [...]

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that pending sales of single-family homes rose 5.9% last month and reversed the April decline. Sales have risen one-third versus the 2010 low. Nevertheless, the sales index level of [...]