The Congressional Budget Office today released the second of its statutory reports on transactions undertaken as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). The assessment discusses the costs of purchases and guarantees of troubled assets taken to date, as well as the information and valuation methods used to calculate those costs.

The TARP’s transactions through June 17, 2009, included net disbursements, guarantee agreements, and loans totaling $369 billion. Valuing the assets using procedures similar to those specified in the Federal Credit Reform Act, but adjusting for market risk as specified in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, CBO estimates that the subsidy cost of the transactions (broadly speaking, the difference between what the Treasury paid for the investments or lent to the businesses and the market value of those transactions, including repayments) amounts to $159 billion.

Currently, the Secretary of the Treasury has the authority to purchase and hold up to roughly $699 billion in assets at one time. Of the $329 billion in authority remaining for the TARP, $142 billion has yet to be allocated to any of the existing or pending activities announced by the Treasury

Households pushed their savings rate to the highest level in more than 15 years in May as a big boost in incomes from the government’s stimulus program was devoted more to bolstering nest eggs than increased spending.

The Commerce Department reported today that consumer spending rose 0.3 percent in May, in line with expectations. But incomes jumped 1.4 percent, the biggest gain in a year.

The savings rate, which was hovering near zero in early 2008, surged to 6.9 percent, the highest level since December 1993.

The economy tumbled at a 5.5 percent pace in the first quarter, according to the estimate of the Gross Domestic Product released by the Commerce Department today. The earlier estimate was a slightly higher 5.7 percent, annualized. The main forces behind the small change: businesses didn’t cut stockpiles of goods as much and imports dropped more sharply than previously estimated.

Additionally, consumers bolstered their spending at a 1.4 percent growth rate, down from 1.5 percent estimated last month. Still, it marked the strongest showing in nearly two years and a huge improvement from the fourth quarter when skittish consumers cut spending by the most in nearly three decades.

In May, employers took 2,933 mass layoff actions involving 312,880 workers. Mass layoff events and initial claims rose to their highest levels on record. Over the year, manufacturing layoff events and initial claims more than doubled. Thirty states reached program highs for May average weekly initial claims.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics today reported State and Regional Unemployment figures for May with Nevada at 11.3 percent and Michigan again with the highest jobless rate, 14.1 percent.

The states with the next highest rates were Oregon, 12.4 percent; Rhode Island and South Carolina, 12.1 percent each; California, 11.5 percent; Nevada, 11.3 percent; and North Carolina, 11.1 percent. Six additional states and the District of Columbia recorded unemployment rates of at least 10.0 percent. The California,Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, and South Carolina rates were the highest on record for those states. Florida, at 10.2 percent, and Georgia, at 9.7 percent, also posted series highs. Nebraska and North Dakota registered the lowest unemployment rates, 4.4 percent each. Overall, 12 states and the District of Columbia had significantly higher jobless rates than the U.S. figure of 9.4 percent, 29 states reported measurably lower rates, and 9 states had rates little different from that of the nation.