Employment by wage level, claims, durable goods, pending home sales, steel prices


Claims continue to drift lower but are still about double what they were pre covid:


Continued claims are also about double pre covid levels:


Fell back some and still below pre covid highs.
This chart is not adjusted for inflation:


Same pattern of recent weakness:

Pending home sales in the US surged 51.7 percent year-on-year in April of 2021, the biggest increase ever amid a low base effect from last year when sales sank at a record pace because of the pandemic. All four US regions recorded year-over-year increases. On a monthly basis however, pending home sales dropped 4.4 percent, compared to forecasts of a 0.8 percent rise, with only the Midwest witnessing month-over-month gains. “Contract signings are approaching pre-pandemic levels after the big surge due to the lack of sufficient supply of affordable homes,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “The upper-end market is still moving sharply as inventory is more plentiful there”. Yun anticipates housing supply to improve as a whole as soon as autumn. He points to an increase in the comfortability of those listing, as well as a rise in sellers after the conclusion of the eviction moratorium or as they exit forbearance. source: National Association of Realtors