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The employment situation looked slightly improved in July, as private employers added 200,000 jobs to the economy — bringing total employment 1.79 percent above what it was in July 2012.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage increased by 1 basis point to 4.44 percent this week. Overall, however, mortgage rates appear to be going down.

Home prices on the Case-Shiller 10-city Index rose 2.48 percent in May, and the 20-city index rose 2.44 percent over the same period. The latest data is continuing to demonstrate significant resiliency compared to past years.

An increase in interest rates contributed to pending home sales falling 0.4 percent from May, experts say. 

Home prices increased 0.68 percent nationally from April, and 7.24 percent above the level seen in May 2012. 

Homebuilders are feeling more confident as more people enter the market to buy homes and fewer homes are being left on the market.

As the economic downturn stretches on, more Americans are participating in the federal food stamp program, SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). In April alone, the total number of food stamp recipients increased by 2.75 percent from one year ago.

Economics can estimate what the probability of an economic recession is by looking at long and short yields. 

30 year fixed-rate mortgages rose 10 basis points from last week, jumping to 4.52 percent.

Pending home sales climbed up, perhaps because sidelined buyers are jumping into the market before interest rates rise further, the chief economist of the National Association of Realtors said.

While seasonally adjusted "initial" unemployment benefit claims continued to decline, "extended" unemployment benefit claims have gone up since the middle of 2008.

According to the Chicago Federal Reserve, the US economy is still near contraction, or negative growth. The index, however, improved from -0.52 in April to -0.30 in May.

Existing home sales rose 4.2 percent in May and 12.9 percent above the level seen in May 2012. 

The number of people claiming initial unemployment status increased from 336,000 to 354,000 claims from last week, while the number of people claiming continued unemployment status declined by 40,000 claims to 2.951 million. Overall, more Americans are claiming extended unemployment benefits.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage rose to 4.01 percent, while the number of applications for purchases declined 3 percent. Overall, rates have risen steadily for the past few weeks.

While the number of total housing permits declined 3.1 percent in May, the number of single family housing permits increased 1.3 percent from April. Still, single family housing permits remained well below levels seen before the housing market crash.

Confidence in the housing market surged in June, as the Housing Market Index climbed to 52 — the highest level seen since early 2006. 

The number of individuals receiving food stamp benefits increased to 47.72 million — or 19.48 percent of the population — in March, the latest month for which data was available.

In May, 175,000 jobs were created, and unemployment rose slightly to 7.6 percent in the same period.

The May employment report showed that the median term of unemployment declined, dipping to 17.3 weeks. Still, the economic situation remains bleak, even compared to the early 1980s — a time considered by economists to be the worst period of unemployment since the Great Depression.