Deloitte: Consumer spending rises in June - Washington Business Journal:

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The index rose to 1.83 percent from an upwardly revised gainof 1.4 percen in May. Deloitte said its indexx analyzestax burden, initial unemploymentr claims, real wages and real home prices to try to track consumer cash flow as an indicator of futurs consumer spending. "The pace of declinde in real consumer spending appears to be saidIra Kalish, director of globak economics and consumer business with and author of the monthluy index. "High savings rates and unemployment accompanied by a weak housinyg market have weighed on consumef spendingfor months, but trends are starting to point in a differenyt direction.
For example, the rate of decline in housing prices bega n todecelerate and, in June, real home prices finally rose from the previous month." The indexc also reported the tax burden continued to drop with the weakenin g of the economy and with tax cuts embeddex in the stimulus plan taking First-time unemployment claims remain at a historicallyu high level, the index said, but the job markeft may be bottoming out. Real wageds have flattened over the past several monthss due in large part to weaknesa in thejob market.
However, on a year-over-year basis, real wagees are rising at an accelerating rate, in part due to The decline in real home prices also appearsd tobe ending, the index noted. Lower price and low interest rates have encouraged a renewap in homebuying which, over time, will likelu lead to stabilization of prices. However, recenf increases in long-term rates couldr have a negative impact on thehousing