Economy seen as improving

Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2003 | 11:54 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

WASHINGTON -- U.S. durable goods orders rose for a second month, new home sales were the second-highest on record in July and consumers gained confidence in August that the economic recovery is accelerating, reports said today.

Orders for items made to last at least three years rose 1 percent to $174 billion after rising a revised 2.6 percent in June, aided by demand for cars and business equipment, the Commerce Department said.

The first back-to-back monthly increase in goods orders since early 2001 comes as firms anticipate greater demand from American consumers. The Conference Board said today its confidence index rose to 81.3 from July's revised 77.

"We are starting to see some signs of life in manufacturing," said Bill Natcher, economist at National City Corp. in Cleveland. "Confidence is starting to come back and businesses are starting to go out and make some investments."

Also, new-home sales dipped in July but still amounted to the second-best month on record.

The Commerce Department reported today that sales of new, single-family homes edged down to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.17 million units, representing a 2.9 percent decline from June's record sales pace of 1.20 million.

In Las Vegas, home sales dropped slightly from June, which at 2,168 recorded new home sales was the highest one month total so far in 2003. There were 2,057 recorded new Las Vegas area home sales in July, bringing the total for 2003 to 13,106, a year to year increase of 335 sales, or 2.6 percent, according to Home Builders Research, Inc.

In the Las Vegas area, builders pulled 2,359 permits for new home construction, the largest number since April 1988, when builders pulled more than 2,800 new home permits in an effort to beat fee increases, Home Builders Research reported. That brings the total number of new home permits in the Las Vegas Valley to 14,529 for the year, a year to year increase of 2,028 permits, or 16.2 percent.