US economy continues to expand

There are still few signs of a slowdown in the US economy.

Sales of new homes soared to a record high in June. The US Commerce Department reported that single-family home sales jumped to a record annual pace of 1.374 million units in June, up 4 percent from May. New home prices, though, declined for a second consecutive month in June with the median price dropping by 5.5 percent to $214,800.

Manufacturing is looking in good shape too after the Commerce Department reported that orders for durable goods rose 1.4 percent in June. May's gain was revised up to 6.4 percent compared with a previously-reported 5.5 percent rise. Orders excluding transportation equipment rose 2.6 percent. Non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a proxy for business spending, rose 3.8 percent in June after a 0.6 percent decline in May, revised from a 2.5 percent fall.

The Federal Reserve's Beige Book report was also upbeat. "Reports from all twelve Federal Reserve Districts indicate that economic activity continued to expand in June and early July," it said. It also said that "retailers' expectations were generally positive" and "expectations for future factory activity were generally upbeat". It noted "a few signs of cooling" in residential real estate activity, wage pressures remained moderate and price pressures eased slightly or remained unchanged in most districts.