WASHINGTON – The Commerce Department’s U.S. Census Bureau today released data on new residential construction for May 2011. Permits for new housing units jumped 8.7 percent in May. Private-sector analysts had expected a 0.7 percent decline. Housing starts advanced 3.5 percent in May. Private-sector analysts had expected a 4.8 percent increase. Both permits and starts in April were revised up.

“While May’s housing data exceeded expectations, we recognize the imperative for a continued and full economic recovery that includes a healthy housing sector as well as continued job growth” said Locke. “This administration is committed to pursuing policies that will do just that, helping America win the future,” he said.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economics and Statistics Administration (ESA) today reported that foreign direct investment (FDI) in the United States over the past decade has supported more than 5 million U.S. jobs that, on average, paid 30 percent more than other jobs. The findings, presented in a new ESA report entitled “Foreign Direct Investment in the United States,” point the way toward policies that could expand the number of foreign partners investing in the United States and, in so doing, create more high-paying U.S. jobs.

ESA Foreign Direct Investment Issue Brief

WASHINGTON, November 23 — The U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis today released the second estimate of gross domestic product (GDP) for the third quarter of 2010. Real GDP grew at a 2.5 percent annual rate in the third quarter, revised up from the advance estimate of 2.0 percent and slightly higher than private-sector expectations of a 2.4 percent increase. The upward revision reflected data that were not available for the advanced estimate.

Personal income decreased 0.1 percent and real consumer spending increased 0.1 percent in September, according to data released today by the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis. Real consumer spending in the third quarter was 2.6 percent higher, at an annual rate, than the second-quarter average. Real disposable personal income decreased 0.3 percent in September.