theGrio & CNBC - Our Money

5/17/10 - theGrio & CNBC Market Update

By Shartia Brantley

7:00 AM on 05/17/2010

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TheGrio and CNBC team up to deliver a weekly report of money matters and market updates for our community.

CNBC's Shartia Brantley reports:

Last week, investors received mixed news on the economy. The federal government posted an $82 billion budget deficit in April which marked 19 consecutive months of shortfalls. On the housing front, foreclosure filings declined by 9 percent in April, but bank repossessions of homes jumped 45 percent from a year ago.

The job market showed signs of improvement last month. For the fourth week in a row, new claims for unemployment benefits continued to fall as the four-week moving average slid towards the lowest levels of the year.

This week, investors await reports on housing, inflation, and several key economic indicators.

We'll get a read on residential construction Tuesday with the April 2010 Housing Starts report from the Census Bureau. The March 2010 report showed a 1.6 percent increase in new home construction due to the federal tax credit for new home buyers and delayed construction from record-setting winter storms.

Due Thursday from the Conference Board, the April 2010 Leading Economic Index (LEI) provides insight on economic activity from building permit requests to jobless benefit claims and stock prices. The March 2010 report showed a 1.4 percent increase in economic activity and marked 12 months of consecutive gains, driven by improving financial and job markets.

Are consumer prices on the rise? The April 2010 Consumer Price Index (CPI), which tracks price changes of necessary household expenses including food, clothing, energy, and transportation, is due Wednesday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The March report showed inflation increased by only 0.1 percent month-to-month, and only 2.3 percent from the previous year.

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TheGrio and CNBC team up to deliver a weekly report of money matters and market updates for our community. CNBC's Shartia Brantley reports: Last week, investors received mixed news on the economy. The federal government "posted an $82 billion budget deficit in April":http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37111416 which marked 19 consecutive months of shortfalls. On the housing front, "foreclosure filings declined by 9 percent in April,":http://www.cnbc.com/id/37125526 but bank repossessions of homes jumped 45 percent from a year ago. The job market showed signs of improvement last month. For the fourth week in a row, "new claims for unemployment benefits continued to fall":http://www.thegrio.com/news/new-claims-for-unemployment-insurance-inch-down.php as the four-week moving average slid towards the lowest levels of the year. This week, investors await reports on housing, inflation, and several key economic indicators. We'll get a read on residential construction Tuesday with the "April 2010 Housing Starts report":http://www.census.gov/const/www/newresconstindex.html from the "Census Bureau.":http://www.census.gov The March 2010 report showed a 1.6 percent increase in new home construction due to the federal tax credit for new home buyers and delayed construction from record-setting winter storms. Due Thursday from the "Conference Board,":www.conference-board.org the "April 2010 Leading Economic Index":http://www.conference-board.org/economics/bci/pressrelease_output.cfm (LEI) provides insight on economic activity from building permit requests to jobless benefit claims and stock prices. The March 2010 report showed a 1.4 percent increase in economic activity and marked 12 months of consecutive gains, driven by improving financial and job markets. Are consumer prices on the rise? The "April 2010 Consumer Price Index (CPI),":http://www.bls.gov/cpi/ which tracks price changes of necessary household expenses including food, clothing, energy, and transportation, is due Wednesday from the "Bureau of Labor Statistics.":http://www.bls.gov The March report showed inflation increased by only 0.1 percent month-to-month, and only 2.3 percent from the previous year. **Watch the video, exclusively on theGrio.com.**