The Carribean Group

Aside from the Independence Day fireworks and the first named hurricane of the season, economic activity has been fairly quiet. But several key releases did make waves—read on for the highlights.

Table Source: Vantage Production, LLC

Research firm CoreLogic reported that there were 47,000 completed foreclosures across the nation this May, down from 52,000 in May 2013. In addition, approximately 660,000 homes were in some stage of foreclosure in May, compared to 1 million homes a year earlier. While foreclosures have eased overall, CoreLogic noted that there is still a backlog of foreclosed properties across the nation that has to be dealt with “to ensure the return of a healthy housing market.”

In labor market news, weekly initial jobless claims fell by 11,000 in the latest week, coming in at 304,000. Claims continue to hover near seven-year lows, and while this is a good sign, the labor markets are still under pressure. Even though the Jobs Report for June was positive overall, the report did show that while 2.15 million people gained employment, 2.35 million dropped out of the labor force. In all but two months since December 2008, more people left the labor force than found jobs. This will be an important metric to monitor as we measure the strength of the labor markets moving forward.

Perhaps the biggest splash of all came Wednesday when the minutes from the Fed’s June meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee were released. The minutes revealed that if the economy stays on track in the coming months, the Fed will taper its bond-buying program by $10 billion at its July and September meetings, before making a final $15 billion reduction at its meeting in October. However, the Fed did note that it will continue to support low home loan rates through another program. This will be a key story to watch through the remainder of the year.

The economic calendar is filled with key reports that will cover most sectors of the economy.

• Economic data kicked off on Tuesday with the Retail Sales report for June.
• Look for a double dose of manufacturing news with the Empire State Index on Tuesday and the Philadelphia Fed Index on Thursday.
• We’ll get inflation news on Wednesday with the Producer Price Index.
• Also on Wednesday, look for the National Association of Home Builders Housing Market Index. Housing news continues on Thursday with Housing Starts and Building Permits for June.
• Weekly Initial Jobless Claims will be released, as usual, on Thursday.
• The Consumer Sentiment Index rounds out the week on Friday.

As you can see in the chart below, initial jobless claims continue to hover around the 300,000 mark, which is near seven-year lows. The labor markets have shown signs of improvement, and this sector of our economy is key to our recovery overall, so labor market news is something to pay close attention to heading into the remainder of this year.

Chart: Initial Jobless Claims

Table Source: Vantage Production, LLC

Table Source: Vantage Production, LLC