WREN Report: Furnishings Sales, CPI, Foreclosures All Increase; Oil Prices Decline

June 15, 2008  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in on June 2008 • May sales in furniture and home furnishings stores increased 0.4 percent from April sales on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Measured against May 2007 figures, sales declined 4.9 percent. On an annualized basis, combined sales for furniture and home furnishings stores in May were $114.3 billion.

• The overall Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 0.8 percent in May, before seasonal adjustment, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), part of the U.S. Dept. of Labor. On a similar basis, the CPI for household furnishings and operations inched up 0.2 percent compared with April and was also up 0.2 percent measured against May of last year.

• May home foreclosures skyrocketed 48 percent compared with year-earlier results, according to RealtyTrac, a foreclosure listing company. The company bases its report on the number of homes that received at least one foreclosure-related filing in the month. Compared with April, foreclosures were up 7 percent.

• The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) hinted at a possible decline in oil prices in its monthly market report. OPEC said in the report that the recent rapidly fluctuating price of oil doesn’t reflect market conditions. OPEC added, “A review of prospects for the remainder of the year also shows little support for prices to remain at current levels.”

On Friday, oil prices per barrel fell, closing at nearly $4 below the all-time trading high set the week before. Oil closed at $134.86 a barrel.

Weekly Review of Economic News (WREN) reports are summaries of recently-released economic statistical data that affect the home furnishings industry. WREN reports are compiled by HFB Research Editor Janice Chamberlain.