Economist's Commentary: July 10, 2008
Quick Take on the Economy: July 10, 2008
By George Ratiu, Research Economist
Unemployment Insurance Claims - Every Thursday
- The weekly data on unemployment claims improved. There were 346,000 people filing for claims for the first time, a decline of 58,000 from the previous week.
- The continuing claims rose by 91,000 with a total now at 3.2 million people receiving unemployment checks.
- The figures indicate that layoffs are slowing.
What does today's data mean for REALTORS® and consumers?
- The decline of such a large magnitude is somewhat questionable and could be due to a 4th-of-July week with the holiday falling on a Friday.
- The job market is soft, due in large part to economic conditions. Finding jobs is still difficult.
Daily Forecast Update
- NAR's monthly official forecast as of July 8th (48K PDF)
- GDP Q2: 0.8%
- GDP Q3: 2.0%
- Unemployment rate by election time: 5.8%
- Average 30-year fixed mortgage rate in December: 6.6%
- Average 30-year fixed mortgage rate by mid-2009: 6.7%
- The next Fed policy change: a rate hike in December 2008
This is one in a series of commentaries by the Research staff of the National Association of REALTORS®. Read more commentaries >
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