Today brings to an end the second week of a rather light economic calendar. For whatever reason the scheduling of economic data being released for the past two weeks has been rather sparse. The stock market up until Wednesdayhad been continuing its slow and steady climb toward the $17,000 mark.
Combined between Wednesday andThursday the market pulled back by just over 211 points. The main reason was more about investors cashing out profits than any real economic data driving the behavior. Looks like we will end the week on a positive not though as the Dow is up a bit this am.
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Last Friday the unemployment report came in as expected with the unemployment rate remaining unchanged at 6.3%.The positive news in the report is that according to the labor department there were 217,000 jobs added in the month of May. This number was right in line with most analyst’s expectations. First time jobless claims for the prior week rose slightly up to 312,000. This is only a slight increase from the previous report of 304,000.
Continuing claims edged lower down by 20,000. It was reported this week that all but 7 states in the U.S. have recovered all of the jobs lost since the start of the great recession. Areas where real estate was a primary driver of the economy, such as Arizona and Nevada, have yet to recover completely as their real estate markets have not come close to pre-recession levels.
Related: Real Estate Reports
May retail sales were disappointing however upward revisions to April numbers were partly offsetting. Retail sales rose 0.3 percent in May, following a 0.5 percent jump the month before (originally up 0.1 percent). Market expectations were for a 0.6 percent gain in May. Motor vehicles sales remain strong and jumped 1.4 percent in May after rising 0.9 percent in April. My friends on auto row will like this!
In a side note, a very rare situation occurred in the business world. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors made an unprecedented announcement on Thursday. Tesla Motors is allowing any car manufacturer to use Tesla’s patents to improve their own attempts at improving electric car batteries. Up until now, no car company has been able to come close to duplicating the power and distance that Tesla batteries provide.
Musk stated that major car manufacturers have not been putting enough money into the technology. Allowing the other car companies to utilize Tesla battery technology will enable the country and world to move much faster towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles.
For all you Dad’s that missed this last night, enjoy and Happy Father’s Day
The Evolution of Dad Dancing (w/ Jimmy Fallon & Gov. Chris Christie)
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Next week’s market moving reports are:
- Monday June 16th – Industrial Production and the Housing Market Index
- Tuesday June 17th – Consumer Price Index and Housing Starts
- Wednesday June 18th – MBA Applications and FOMC Meeting Announcement
- Thursday June 19th – First Time Jobless Claims and Philadelphia Fed Survey.
As your mortgage professional, I am happy to assist you with any information you may need regarding mortgage or real estate trends. I welcome the opportunity to serve you in any way I possibly can. Please feel free to reach me at 661-505-4300.
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Source: Santa Clarita News
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