Economic Statistics for 19 Jun 12
The following statistics were released today on the state of the US economy:
Housing starts declined in May by 4.8%, at a below-expected pace of 0.708 million. That is up 28.5% on a year-ago basis, however. Housing permits rose a better-than-expected 7.9%, to an annual rate of 0.780 million units. That mixes up the picture a bit, and hits at improvements over the next month in the housing sector.
Redbook’s same-store index shows a 2.4% sales increase. That’s up 0.4% from the prior week, but still soft. ICSC-Goldman Store Sales are also soft, with sales unchanged from last week. The year-on-year increase is 3.6%, the highest since mid-May, but the 4-week average is 3.1%, a 3-month low.
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Dale Franks
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Good News for Obama
Gun sales are up about 50% from last year’s banner numbers.
Gun manufacturing is the one private-sector industry “doing fine” on Mr. Obama’s watch. Sturm, Ruger Co. sold 1 million firearms in the first quarter of 2012 – an amazing 50 percent increase from the first quarter of 2011. The jump was so steep that the company stopped accepting orders from March to May to catch up with demand for its products.
Last month, Smith Wesson announced a firearm-order backlog of approximately $439 million by the end of April, up 135 percent from the same quarter in 2011. Sales in that period were up 28 percent from 2011 and 14 percent over its own predictions to investors. NSSF estimates the industry is responsible for approximately 180,000 jobs and has an annual impact on the U.S. economy of $28 billion.