Initial Claims Down, Retail Up, Foreclosures Fall

This week produced another "good news Thursday."

Initial claims continued their downward spiral. As hiring picks up, new claims for unemployment dropped to their lowest levels since the January 24th weekly report.

Consumers were flashing the buy-sign again in May. The Commerce Department said that sales at U.S. retailers rose 0.5% last month. According to Rasmussen Reports, consumer confidence is now up ten points from the beginning of the year. Investor confidence is up seventeen points from the first reading of the year.

The May foreclosure figures were also released on Thursday and the number of filings in the U.S. dropped 6%. That had a majority of economists stroking their chins in disbelief. Some areas of the country actually reported double digit drops April to May. Foreclosure filings in Illinois dropped nearly 20%. Foreclosure filings in Illinois also dropped nearly 20%. There were even year over year drops. Foreclosures in Rhode Island for the month dropped 26.9% compared with May 2008. And in Massachusetts foreclosures were down 45.7% from the same period last year.

Look for continued improvement in employment, retail, mortgage activity and housing sales as this new growth cycle gets underway.