Economic indicators

Pending home sales decreased 0.8% to an index reading of 108.5 in May, after a downwardly revised 1.7% slide to 109.4 in April, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors.

Texas service sector activity “continued to reflect expansion in June albeit at a slightly slower pace,” according to business executives responding to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey, as the revenue index slid to 14.8 from 15.9.

Service sector activity “improved at a more moderate pace in June,” according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond service-sector activity survey, released Tuesday.

Manufacturing in the central Atlantic region “improved in June,” according to the monthly business activity survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, as the manufacturing index climbed to 7 in June from 1 in May.

The consumer confidence index increased to 118.9 in June from a revised 117.6 last month, The Conference Board reported Tuesday.

Texas factory activity, as measured by the production index, “increased in June,” according to the monthly Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, released Monday.

The value of U.S. durable goods new orders fell 1.1% in May, well below expectations for a 0.5% decline, as transportation orders plunged 3.4% and nontransportation orders posted only a modest 0.1% gain, data released Monday by the Commerce Department showed.

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for May decreased to negative 0.26 from positive 0.57 in April, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported Monday.

The pace of new single-family home sales rose to a stronger-than-expected 610,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate in May, following upward revisions to the sales pace in the previous three months, data released by the Commerce Department Friday showed.

Manufacturing activity in the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's region "expanded at a slower pace with solid expectations for future activity" in June, according to the bank's monthly manufacturing survey, released Thursday.

The Leading Economic Index was up 0.3% in May following a revised 0.2% increase in April, first reported as a 0.3% gain, the Conference Board reported Thursday.

Initial claims for U.S. state unemployment benefits rose by 3,000 to 241,000 in the June 17 employment survey week, as expected following a small upward revision to the claims level in the previous week, data released by the Labor Department Thursday showed.

Existing home sales gained 1.1% to a seasonally adjusted 5.62 million-unit rate in May from a revised 2.5% decline to a 5.56 million sales pace the previous month, the National Association of Realtors announced Wednesday.

Puerto Rico’s employment indicators were mixed in May compared to April and to May 2016.

The U.S. current account deficit widened for the third straight quarter to $116.8 billion in the first quarter from a revised $114.0 billion gap in the previous quarter, the Commerce Department said.

The region's non-manufacturing sector “continued to expand,” at a faster pace, as the general business conditions index increased to 33.6 in June from 25.6 in May, this month's Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Report on Business, released Tuesday, indicates.

The University of Michigan's preliminary June consumer sentiment index reading was 94.5, compared to the final May 97.1, and the final April 97.0, according to market sources.

WASHINGTON (MNI) - The pace of housing starts fell by 5.5% to a 1.092 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in May, well below expectations for a rebound to a 1.225 million pace and the slowest pace since September, data reported by the Commerce Department Friday morning showed.

Builders’ confidence in the market for new single-family homes slipped as the National Association of Home Builders' housing market index fell to 67 in June from a downwardly revised 69 in May.

Industrial production was flat in May, the Federal Reserve reported Thursday.