Orders for long-lasting durable goods fell in April, but a closely watched proxy of business investment moved higher. And although sales of existing homes declined, consumer sentiment remains strong.
A newly released report showed consumer sentiment this month remained at the same level it was a month earlier but it’s still high, while separate reports indicated inflation remains rather tame.
Industrial production in the U.S. rebounded from a drop at the start of the year, as consumer sentiment is the best in more than a decade – but there's a decline reported in parts of the new-home-building market.
Several recent economic indicators, with the exception of a measure of the total output from the nation’s factories, mines and utilities production, have all moved higher. That indicates economic activity in the first month to month and a half of 2017 is still very much alive, despite recent concerns about the future following stock market gyrations.
Consumers are feeling less upbeat, due to uncertainty about economic conditions following the tax overhaul recently signed into law, according to a new report. Meanwhile the level of new home construction last year was the best in a decade despite a December decline.