Weekly Economic Recap: August 3 – August 9, 2026
A mixed week of data painted a picture of a labor market cooling from both the demand and supply side, a housing market straining under a fifth straight week of rising mortgage rates, and consumers growing slightly less worried about inflation even as they braced for higher unemployment. Here's the breakdown by industry and sector.
Labor Market
Housing & Mortgage Finance
Home price growth continued to run hot on a nominal basis but stayed underwater in real terms. The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index rose 1.6% YOY in May, up from 1.2% in April and above the 1.3% consensus estimate — Chicago posted the strongest YOY appreciation among the 20-city composite for the third straight month. MOM growth came in at 0.9%, easing slightly from April's 1.0% but still within the range of typical spring seasonal strength. The real story remains the inflation-adjusted picture: with May's CPI running at 4.2%, real (inflation-adjusted) home prices were negative for the 12th consecutive month, a 2.6-point gap between nominal appreciation and inflation.