- Jack Lew, US Treasury Secretary
The US economy is enjoying "sustained, stable" growth, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said, noting that workers need to see a more robust wage growth for the economy to continue to flourish. The world's number one economy posted gross domestic product of 3.7% in the second quarter, the strongest rate of growth since mid-2014. Job-creation has also been steady, pushing the nation's unemployment rate down to 5.1%, the lowest level in seven years.
US home prices rose more than expected in July amid ongoing improvement in the job market and as buyers competed for a tight property supply. Prices increased 0.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis from June, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said. This compared with the median forecast of a 0.4% rise and followed an unrevised 0.2% gain in June, which was the smallest gain in nine months. The HPI surged 5.8% in July when compared to the same period last year, which was faster than any 12-month period since April of last year, and up from a 5.5% year-over-year gain in June. The falling unemployment rate helped create a bigger pool of buyers, who found few homes on the market to choose from. Listings nationwide plunged 4.7% in July from a year earlier, the National Association of Realtors said. Price increases will encourage more homeowners to sell as they gain enough equity to trade up.
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