Even as the weather heated up, home sales stayed cool in June. Here are five things we learned from U.S. economic data released during the week ending July 10.
Existing home sales fell in June. The National Association of Realtors reports that sales of previously owned homes declined 2.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) of 4.090 million units. Home sales remained 2.8 percent ahead of their year-ago pace. Sales grew 2.1 percent in the Northeast but fell in the South (-3.6 percent), Midwest (-3.0 percent), and West (-1.3 percent). Inventories held relatively steady (-0.1 percent) at 1.56 million homes, representing a 4.6-month supply. The median sales price of $440,600 was up 1.8 percent from a year earlier.
Services sector activity remained solid in June. The Services PMI slipped half a point to 54.0. Despite the decline, the Institute for Supply Management measure has remained above 50.0 (the threshold between an expanding and contracting service sector) for 24 consecutive months. Measures for business activity/production (55.4), new orders (55.1), and inventories (51.2) fell. The employment index rose 3.3 points to 51.2. Fourteen of 18 service sector industries reported growth during the month, led by arts/entertainment/recreation, mining, and wholesale trade. The press release noted fewer comments about energy prices but observed that “tariff impacts continued to be a theme for increased pricing pressure.”
The trade deficit swelled in May. Exports fell 3.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted $317.7 billion, and imports rose 3.3 percent to $395.3 billion. The resulting trade deficit of -$77.6 billion marked a 42.2 percent increase in the Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis measure. Despite the large single-month increase, the year-to-date trade deficit of -$297.9 billion was down 40.6 percent from the comparable year-ago months. The goods deficit expanded by $23.6 billion to -$106.5 billion, while the services surplus grew by $0.6 billion to +$28.9 billion. The former reflected declines in exports of industrial supplies (e.g., nonmonetary gold, crude oil, natural gas), computers, and pharmaceuticals, along with increased imports of consumer goods, crude oil, automotive vehicles/parts, computer accessories, and semiconductors. The U.S. recorded its largest goods deficits with Vietnam, Mexico, Taiwan, and China.
Wholesalers’ sales rose as inventories held steady in May. Merchant wholesaler sales surged 3.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted $941.8 billion. The Census Bureau measure was 18.1 percent above year-ago levels. Durable and nondurable goods sales were up 4.2 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively. Wholesaler inventories edged up 0.1 percent to $585.8 billion, 3.3 percent above a year earlier. Inventories for both durables and nondurables were up 0.1 percent for the month. The resulting inventory-to-sales (I/S) ratio of 1.15 was down 4 basis points from April and 16 basis points from a year earlier. The I/S ratios for durables (1.46) and nondurables (0.85) declined by six and two basis points, respectively.
Americans’ borrowing slowed slightly in May. The Federal Reserve estimates that Americans had outstanding consumer debt balances (excluding mortgages and other real estate-backed debt) of $5.155 trillion. This was a $0.2 billion decline from April and a 2.1 percent increase over the past year. Revolving credit balances (e.g., credit cards) fell $5.3 billion to $1.344 trillion (+3.4 percent versus May 2025). Nonrevolving credit balances, which include car loans and college loans, rose $5.1 billion to $3.810 trillion (+1.6 percent versus May 2025).
Other U.S. economic data released over the past week:
- Jobless Claims (Week ending July 4, 2026, First-Time Claims, seasonally adjusted): 215,000 (-2,000 vs. the previous week, -13,000 vs. the same week a year earlier). 4-week moving average: 218,750 (-6.7% vs. the same week a year earlier).
- FOMC Minutes
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What We Learned About the U.S. Economy Last Week 