NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks have been mixed on Wall Street this morning, with government reports out showing a slowdown in home construction and consumers dealing with rising prices. The main indexes started the trading day lower but have since moved into positive territory. The gains so far are modest.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The pace of home building is slowing. The Commerce Department says builders broke ground at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of a little more than 1 million homes. The figure was down 6.5 percent from April. Construction slowed across most of the country, with the South the only region where it picked up. A gauge of future activity, the number of applications for building permits, also dropped in May.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation at the consumer level remains modest, but it did accelerate last month. The Labor Department says consumer prices rose 0.4 percent in May. That’s the biggest one-month jump in more than a year. The increase was driven by rising food and gasoline costs as well as a jump in airline fares. Core prices, which exclude the volatile food and energy categories, were up 0.3 percent.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve policymakers begin a two-day meeting today. Economists expect they’ll keep a key short-term rate near zero. The Fed isn’t expected to increase rates for another year. The Fed will also update its economic forecasts, with economists expecting the estimate of 2014 growth will be trimmed back after the economy shrank in the first three months of the year.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is proposing the creation of the largest marine preserve in the world in the Pacific Ocean. The White House says Obama is considering expanding protected waters surrounding a group of mostly uninhabited islands the U.S. controls near Hawaii and American Samoa. The executive action would put the area off limits to drilling, fishing and other actions that could threaten wildlife. The White House says it will listen to public input and is still finalizing the sanctuary’s boundaries.
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