U.S. Commerce Department

• Housing Starts Dropped Precipitously in June, Commerce Department Says

  By Joyce Hanson, AdvisorOne  |  July 20, 2010

  New home and apartment construction statistics for June showed a precipitous drop in housing starts, which were 5.0% below the revised estimate for May and 5.8% below the June 2009 rate, the U.S. Commerce Department reported.

• U.S. Retail Sales Drop in May while Consumer Sentiment Rises in June

  By Joyce Hanson, AdvisorOne  |  June 11, 2010

  In mixed economic news that pushed the U.S. markets down and brought them back up again, retail sales for May dropped unexpectedly lower for the first time in months while consumer sentiment showed surprising strength once again in early June.

• Retail Sales and Business Inventories Rose in August

  By Joyce Hanson, AdvisorOne  |  September 14, 2009

  Retail sales jumped higher in August than in the previous five months while business inventories saw their biggest rise in two years and business sales also rose after tumbling downward for two months, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Tuesday.