The home price index increased in every market in June. The 10-city increased 3.3 points to 155.02 while the 20-city rose 3.24 to 142.21. This positive turn in the housing market also caused the 10-city and 20-city indices to have a 1-year increase for the first time since September 2010.
For more information on the upturn in housing, see our housing report.
–From Case-Shiller and The St. Louis Federal Reserve
The cost of lodging away from home increased 17.6% between December 2011 and June 2012. This is a massive spread between the yearly peak and trough of the lodging price index. By looking at the six month change, the swings of seasonality are clear. It also becomes clear that the seasonal swing is increasing massively over time. The peak difference in June 2012 is 1.7% higher than June 2011, 3.1% higher than June 2010, and 6.3% over June 2002.
In other words, lodging costs 17.6% more in June than in December. With differences that large, maybe it’s time to plan a December trip?
–From Data at the St. Louis Federal Reserve. Chart created at Data360. Each data point in graph shows CPI of Lodging Away from Home minus CPI of Lodging Away from Home six months prior and converted to percent change.
Retail and Food Service sales dropped $1.9 billion dollars to $401.5 billion. This marks the 3rd consecutive month of decline, with June down 1.2% since March’s peak. However, this June is up 3.8% compared to June 2011, so the larger trend still points upward.
The ISM New Orders index fell 20.5% in June, the largest one-month percent change since October 2008, when the first recession-related drop hit. Prior to that drop, the largest was the post-9/11 drop-off. In other words, this past month’s drop is an historic decline.
The economy added 176,000 jobs in June, bringing the total nonfarm private payroll to 110,898,000. This is the highest payroll has been since January 2009. In addition, initial weekly unemployment claims fell 14,000 to 374,000 for the last week of June. Tomorrow’s Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly employment report will provide more context to these promising early numbers.
The ISM Manufacturing index was reported at 49.7 in June, a decline of 3.8. This is the first time since July 2009 that the index fell below 50, indicating a contraction of the sector. Corresponding to this decline, the price index fell a massive 10.5 points to 37. The new orders index fell into contraction, losing 12.3 points to 47.8. The non-manufacturing index will be released on Thursday. Considering the declines seen today, the non-manufacturing sectors will likely not have good news.
Weekly gas prices fell $0.057 this week to $3.612. This is the 9th straight week of price declines and the lowest price since February. Gas is $0.169 cents cheaper than the first week of June 2011, though the CPI has increased 1.94% over the same period up till April, the last month of CPI data available.
