6/06/2011 – theGrio and CNBC Market Update
VIDEO - Last week investors received quite a few negative reports on the economy: home prices declined, consumer confidence fell, and the jobs report was disappointing...
Last week investors received quite a few negative reports on the economy: home prices declined, consumer confidence fell, and the jobs report was disappointing. In May, the unemployment rate rose slightly to 9.1 percent – as 54,000 jobs were added. Business services, health care and mining saw the biggest gains. African-American unemployment ticked up to16.2 percent, while black teen unemployment declined to 40.7 percent, but remains the highest of any group. In the week ahead, investors await reports on the economy, trade and consumer credit.
We’ll get a read on the economy with the fed’s beige book – which looks at economic trends from the fed’s 12 districts such as Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas. The last report showed the economy continues to improve and several districts reported gains in the labor market, but higher commodity prices are putting pressure on consumer prices.
We’ll find out whether those higher commodity prices continue to impact the trade deficit with the April international trade report. In March, the US trade gap rose more than $48 billion, much higher than expected because of higher oil prices.
And are consumers still saying charge it? We’ll gain insight on consumer finances with the April consumer credit report- which tracks auto, credit card and student loans. In March consumer credit rose by $6 billion driven by an increase in auto loans. Americans carry more than $2.4 trillion of debt
