Data Round-Up: May/June 2012

by Valorie Hanni Rice
Senior Specialist, Business Information

The Bureau of Economic Analysis released gross domestic product by state on Tuesday, June 5th. GDP increased in 43 states and the District of Columbia in 2011, including Arizona, which saw a 1.5 percent change. North Dakota had the highest change with 7.6 percent, and Wyoming the lowest with -1.2 percent.

Initial unemployment claims for Arizona were 5,962 the last week of May, which was slightly more than the week before. The four-week average also rose slightly from 5,459 to 5,567. Nationally, unemployment applications dropped 12,000 this week to 377,000 seasonally adjusted. The four-week average went up to 377,500 from 374,500 the week prior.

Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims

Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices were released May 29th. Phoenix home prices increased 2.2 percent from February to March, and 6.1 percent compared to March of last year. The monthly data showed 12 metro areas with positive price changes in March compared to only three metros in February (Phoenix being among them). The 20-city composite was flat for the month, but reflected a decrease in prices by 2.6 percent for the year.

The Conference Board released their national Consumer Confidence Index on Tuesday, May 29th. The Index decreased to 64.9 in May, showing consumers as less positive about the short-term outlook.

 

The national employment situation report for May was released on June 1. It shows nonfarm employment only adding 69,000 jobs for the month. The unemployment rate remained steady at 8.2 percent. Healthcare, transportation and warehousing, wholesale trade, and manufacturing all had increases in employment while construction declined. Most other industries saw little change in employment.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency released the first quarter 2012 house price index on May 23. Arizona had a 2.51 percent change in annual house price appreciation using the seasonally adjusted purchase-only index, which ranked it 14th among all states. Prices in Arizona rose 2.47 percent when compared to the previous quarter.  Prices for the US as a whole rose 0.55 percent for the quarter and 0.48 percent for the year. Metro area price data is also available using the all-transactions index, which includes both purchase and refinance mortgages.  The year over year percent change for Arizona metros reflected negative numbers across the board. They are as follows: Flagstaff -5.7, Lake Havasu City-Kingman -1.4, Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale -1.4, Prescott -3, Tucson -5.7 and Yuma -5.4.

Al Transactions House Price Index for Arizona
Federal Housing Finance Agency

For additional information, please contact the Economic and Business Research Center.