Housing & Economy

Consumer Economics

Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index down slightly in May to 106.4 from 108.6 in April; consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions fell to 149.6 from 152.9, Expectations Index fell to 77.5 from 79.0
The Conference Board Inc. (05/31)

Euro area annual inflation expected to be 8.1% in May, up from 7.4% in April; energy to have highest annual rate in May at 39.2%: Eurostat
Eurostat (05/31)

Employee Compensation & Benefits

Pandemic-triggered forest products and trucking worker shortages contribute to soaring lumber, panel prices; US Forest Service research forester says raising pay, boosting technical competency of workforce will help increase production, drive down prices
Patriot-News (05/31)

Employee Well-Being/Satisfaction

Greiner highlights its internal 'Greiner Sustainability Conference' 2022 with an emphasis on empowering people; event invited exprts to give insight on employee satisfaction, diversity, mental health at work
Greiner AG (05/31)

GDP

Canada's real GDP up 0.8% in Q1, third straight quarterly rise led by increased business investment, household consumption; final domestic demand up 1.2%, export volumes down 2.4% due to decreased international trade of energy products: Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada (05/31)

Canada's real GDP up 0.7% in March as goods-producing and services-producing industries gain 0.9% and 0.6%, respectively; economic activity expanded 0.8% in Q1, the third consecutive quarterly gain: Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada (05/31)

Leading Indicators & Economic Signals

University of Michigan's Index of Consumer Sentiment posts final May reading of 58.4, down from April's 65.2; decline in optimism driven by continued negative views on current buying conditions for houses and durables, economic outlook
University of Michigan (05/31)

European Commission's Economic Sentiment Indicator in May up 0.1 points from April to 105.0 in euro area; consumers' views on past financial situation, expectations about general economic situation worsened as intentions to make major purchases stabilised
European Commission (05/31)

Energy Indicators

US national gas price average rose three cents to US$4.62 in week ended May 31, up 45 cents month-over-month; share of surveyed drivers that would change their driving habits if gas reaches US$5 a gallon stands at 75%: AAA
American Automobile Association (AAA) (05/31)

Inflation

British discount retailer B&M names finance chief Alex Russo as successor to CEO Simon Arora, who is retiring next year; news comes as company reports quarterly profit of £619M, forecasts lower 2023 profit on inflation, lower consumer spending
Reuters (05/31)

Giant Eagle to convert three Columbus, Ohio, area locations to its Market District concept; company also adds savings of up to 20% on over 1000 items to its myPerks program as a reaction to rising inflation, supply chain issues
NBC - 4 WCMH (05/31)

Mortgages/Home Financing

Pending US home sales fell for sixth consecutive month in April, down 3.9% from March to 99.3 on NAR's index, down 9.1% year-over-year; higher mortgage rates have increased cost of purchasing a home by more than 25% year-over-year
National Association of Realtors (NAR) (05/31)

New Homes

Toll Brothers' fiscal Q2 net income up 72.5% to US$220.6M from year ago on home sales revenue up 19% to US$2.2B, contracted homes down 18% to 2,874; CEO projects full year revenue growth of 20% based on a record backlog of US$11.7B and 11,768 homes
Toll Brothers Inc. (05/31)

Residential Construction & Real Estate

US home prices rose 2.6% in March over February, up 20.6% year-over-year; annual gain is higher than the 20.0% increase in the previous month: S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index
Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC (S&P) (05/31)

Corporate Management

VW names Frank Blome CEO of its new battery business based in Salzgitter, Germany; Brome is the former head of VW’s battery division and will oversee the new company’s growth to six giga cell factories in Europe with annual capacity of 240 GWh
Volkswagen AG (05/31)

Ocean conservation group Oceana comments on Amazon shareholder decision on measures to address plastic packaging use; 48% vote in favor of measures, while not a majority, shows significant support for measures to address plastic pollution, group says
GlobeNewswire (05/31)

Corporate Financing

Premium beauty brand SUGAR Cosmetics closes US$50M Series D funding led by L Catterton; strategic relationship with LVMH will empower SUGAR in next stage of expansion in India's beauty and personal-care market
PR Newswire (05/31)

Sally Beauty completes repayment of US$300M on its 8.75% senior secured notes due 2025, funded through excess cash and approximately US$150M borrowed under ABL credit facility; notes were issued in April 2020 when stores temporarily closed for pandemic
Business Wire (05/31)

Corporate Economics

Canada's number of business openings in February held steady at 4.9% from January, while closures rose to 5.0% from 4.1%; number of active businesses decreased by 0.4% month-over-month: Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada (05/31)

Trade Balance

Canada's current account balance recorded a C$5.0B surplus in Q1, the highest in 14 years after a C$137M deficit in Q4; surplus was led by the largest goods surplus since 2008: Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada (05/31)

Thousands   |   Latest: Apr/22

Total, Seasonally Adjusted   |   Latest: 05/21/22

Total, Not Seasonally Adjusted   |   Latest: 05/21/22

Total, Seasonally Adjusted   |   Latest: 05/21/22

%   |   Latest: Apr/22

%   |   Latest: Apr/22

%   |   Latest: 05/26/22

Real/US$   |   Latest: 05/31/22

Index 1985=100   |   Latest: May/22

Leading Indicators

Interactive Chart: Click on legend/key to see full view on your dashboard

Interactive Chart: Click on legend/key to see full view on your dashboard

Sources: Industry Intelligence Inc.,Census Bureau