Employers took 2,157 mass layoff actions in July that resulted in the separation of 206,791 workers, seasonally adjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month,the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today.
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The National Association of Realtors reported today that existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – rose 7.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.24 million units in July from a level of 4.89 million in June, and are 5.0 percent above the 4.99 million-unit pace in July 2008. The last time sales rose for four consecutive months was in June 2004, and the last time sales were higher than a year earlier was November 2005.
The monthly sales gain was the largest on record for the total existing-home sales series dating back to 1999.
According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage fell to 5.22 percent in July from 5.42 percent in June; the rate was 6.43 percent in July 2008. Read the rest of this entry »
The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties rose to a seasonally adjusted rate of 9.24 percent of all loans outstanding as of the end of the second quarter of 2009, up 12 basis points from the first quarter of 2009, and up 283 basis points from one year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) National Delinquency Survey. The non-seasonally adjusted delinquency rate increased 64 basis points from 8.22 percent in the first quarter of 2009 to 8.86 percent this quarter.
The delinquency rate breaks the record set last quarter. The records are based on MBA data dating back to 1972.
The delinquency rate includes loans that are at least one payment past due but does not include loans somewhere in the process of foreclosure. The percentage of loans in the foreclosure process at the end of the second quarter was 4.30 percent, an increase of 45 basis points from the first quarter of 2009 and 155 basis points from one year ago. The combined percentage of loans in foreclosure and at least one payment past due was 13.16 percent on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the highest ever recorded in the MBA delinquency survey. Read the rest of this entry »
The Conference Board’s forecast of economic activity rose for a fourth straight month in July, but at slower pace than in the past three months.
The organization’s index of leading economic indicators gained 0.6 percent last month, slightly less than economists expected. The index, which is meant to project economic activity in the next three to six months, climbed 0.8 percent in June and 1.2 percent in May. However, it said that the indicators suggest the recession has bottomed out, and growth in economic activity will begin soon.
The six-month growth rate rose to 3 percent through July, up from 2.1 percent through June. That’s the highest growth rate since mid-2004, the Conference Board said.
Six of the 10 indicators that comprise the index increased in July, including employment data and stock prices.
Consumer expectations hindered growth in the index more than any other factor.
An accompanying index meant to measure the current state of the business cycle was flat in July, after dropping for eight straight months, the Conference Board said.
At least four class action suits have been filed against MGM. All of them essentially the same and alleging that MGM and certain of its officers and directors violated federal securities laws. The complaints generally allege that defendants, including MGM and many of its senior officers “made a series of materially false and misleading statements concerning MGM’s liquidity and the prospects for the development of MGM’s CityCenter. Prior to the disclosures of the true facts, MGM insiders sold close to $90 million worth of their personally held MGM stock to the public. As the true facts about MGM and the CityCenter leaked into the market, the price of MGM stock declined.”