Personal income and spending for August showed little change from July, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported last week. August personal income dropped by $7.3 billion, (0.1 percent from July), and disposable personal income (DPI) decreased $5.0 billion, (less than 0.1 percent from July). Meanwhile, personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $22.7 billion during August (0.2 percent from July).
 
August's performance was very similar to July's, which saw personal income increasing by $17.1 billion (0.1 percent), DPI gaining $14.4 billion (0.1 percent), and PCE increasing by a comparatively healthier $76.6 billion (0.7 percent).
 
Taking a deeper look at incomes, private wage and salary disbursements dropped by $12.2 billion in August, in contrast to July's increase of $23.8 billion. Goods-producing industries' payrolls declined by $1.3 billion; manufacturing payrolls decreased $2.9 billion; services-producing industries' payrolls dropped $10.9 billion; and government wage and salary disbursements gained $0.4 billion. Supplements to wages and salaries for August increased $1.1 billion.
 
Turning to real estate, August's new home sales dropped slightly to an annual rate of 295,000; 2.3 percent down from July's revised rate, according to Census Bureau data released last week. Compared to last year, August's new home sales was 6.1 percent better than August 2010 rate of 278,000.
 
In terms of price, August's median new home sales price August was $209,100, and August's average sales price was $246,000. An estimated 162,000 homes were available for sale at the end of August, leaving a 6.6-month supply at August's sales rate.
 
First time claims for unemployment coverage declined to 391,000 for the week ending Sept. 24, a 37,000-claim drop from the previous week's revised figure of 428,000, the Employment and Training Administration reported last week. Overall, 3,729,000 unemployed workers were on jobless benefits for the week ending Sept. 17, which was down 20,000 claims compared to the preceding week.
 
Consumer confidence was flat for September, according to The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index. September's index came in at 45.4, which marked a slight increase from 45.2 in August. The Board said its Present Situation Index, which tracks how consumers assess the economy's current status, dropped to 32.5 from August's 34.3; and its Expectations Index, which tracks how consumers expect the economy to fare in the near future, increased to 54 over August's 52.4.
 
The Thomson Reuters, University of Michigan Survey of Consumers showed similar results with the Index of Consumer Sentiment reaching 59.4 for September over August's 55.7, a 6.6 percent increase. Most of September's gain was in the Survey's Current Conditions Index (how consumers feel they are faring right now), which rose to 74.9 in September from 68.7 in August. The Expectations Index (how consumers estimate they will fare), rose to 49.4 in September from 47.4 in August, but it's important to note that score was nearly identical with the 2008 recession low of 49.2 from June 2008.
 
This week we can expect:

• Monday — September new car and truck sales from the auto manufacturers; and August construction spending from the Census Bureau.
• Tuesday — September factory orders from the Census Bureau.
• Thursday — Initial jobless claims for week ending Oct. 1 from the Employment and Training Administration.
• Friday — August wholesale inventories from the Census Bureau; August consumer credit from the Federal Reserve; and September unemployment rate, earnings, payrolls and average workweek from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.