WREN Report for June 23, 2008: Mixed Results for Housing Statistics and Producer Price Index

June 22, 2008  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in on June 2008 • Privately-owned housing starts slipped 3.3 percent in May, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 975,000, compared with April starts of 1.008 million. Measured against May 2007 results, starts fell 32.1 percent.

The number of completed privately owned housing units jumped 11.6 percent in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.1 million units, compared with April figures. Measured against May 2007 results, completions fell 26.9 percent.

Housing starts and completions are tracked by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Department of Commerce.

• The Producer Price Index (PPI) for manufacturing industries stood at 179.3 in May, up 2.4 percent from April and up a huge 9.5 percent from year-earlier results. May PPI for furniture and related products manufacturing was 170.6, up 0.5 percent compared with April and up 3.0 percent from May 2007.

PPI for furniture and home furnishings stores stood at 118.6 in May, down 0.5 percent from April and up 3.0 percent from May 2007.

PPI, tracked by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), measures the average change over time in the prices received by domestic producers of goods and services. PPI measures price changes from the perspective of the seller.

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.