U.S. Economic data remains hot this summer

Economic data is hot this summer. In the past weeks a flurry of housing, auto, and labor data has been released, proving that the U.S. economy is moving in the right direction. Existing home sales rose 3.2 percent to an 8 year high of 5.49 million and the Case-Shiller index, the leading indicator for U.S. home prices, jumped a healthy 4.9 percent year-over-year for May. Auto sales have been equally strong, top name automakers benefitting from falling oil prices and loose credit standards have all seen significant domestic sales growth above the 6 percent year-over-year mark.

As for the labor market, the ADP employment report today showed U.S. companies added 185K workers to payrolls in July, a solid number despite a tepid energy industry. As always the data relays back to the Fed and every economist under the sun has an opinion whether these figures warrant a rate hike. The fact remains that the timing is up to the Fed and that U.S. is experiencing significant growth among a volatile global market, says Voya Global.