Personal income increased $59.4 billion, or 0.4 percent, in April according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, compared to the less than 0.1 percent increase the previous month. Personal consumption expenditures decreased $2.6 billion, or less than 0.1 percent in April, following an increase of 0.5 percent in March.
Construction spending increased 2.2 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of $1 trillion. March spending was revised up from $967.2 billion to $984.0 billion.
The ISM manufacturing index rose to 52.8 points in May. Index readings above 50 indicate expansion in the manufacturing economy. Respondents noted that the economy is showing signs of improvement, as well as some easing of the West Coast port issues.
U.S. real GDP for the first quarter decreased at a rate of 0.7 percent, according to the second estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Consumer sentiment declined to 90.7 in May, down 5.2 points from the previous month, according to the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index.
FDIC-insured banks and savings institutions earned $39.8 billion in the first quarter, up 6.9 percent from the industry’s earnings a year before, the FDIC said today. Earnings improved as net operating revenue increased, driven by 4.6 percent growth in noninterest income — in particular trading revenue and noninterest income from single-family mortgages — and a 1.5 percent increase in net interest income.
Four in 10 U.S. households surveyed last fall said they were somewhat or much better off financially than they had been five years prior, according to the Federal Reserve’s 2014 Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking released today. Just over a quarter said they were worse off than in 2009.
Sales of new single-family houses in April rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 517,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development. The April rate is 6.8 percent above the revised March rate of 484,000 and 26.1 percent above the year-ago rate of 410,000.
The 20-City Case-Shiller Compositev Index gained 5 percent year-over-year in March, consistent with February’s gain. The 10-City Composite gained 4.7 percent in March from the previous year, down from the 4.8 percent year-over-year gain in February. The National Index recorded a 4.1 percent gain on an annual basis in March, compared to a 4.2% annual gain in February.
New orders for durable manufactured goods decreased 0.5 percent to $235.5 billion in April, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This decrease, down two of the last three months, followed a 5.1 percent increase in March. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.5 percent.