This Week - May 31, 2013

by Valorie Hanni Rice
Senior Specialist, Business Information

The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices for March 2013 were released May 28th. The one-year change in home prices for March was 10.2 percent for the nation. All 20 cities within the composites had positive growth lead by Phoenix (22.5 percent) and San Francisco (22.2 percent).  Phoenix prices were up 1.7 percent between February and March.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis released the second estimate of first quarter 2013 gross domestic product growth on May 30th. The figure went to 2.4 percent compared to 2.5 percent in the advance estimate released last month, indicating no great change in overall economic activity.

Initial unemployment claims were slightly lower in Arizona the second full week in May, dropping to 4,814 from 4,937 the week before. The four-week average was also lower moving down to 5,057 from the previous level of 5,546. Nationally, initial unemployment benefit claims were slightly higher last week at a seasonally adjusted 354,000. The four-week average also moved up a bit to 347,250.

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