The Energy Department announced that for week ending May 23, 2011, the average price of US gasoline fell to $3.849 a gallon, down from $3.960 per gallon week earlier.

Diesel prices fell to an average $4.06 per gallon, down from $4.10 last week.

Bankrate.com reported that the average conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 4.77%, down from last week’s 4.82%, according to its weekly national survey ending May 18, 2011. It also reported that the average 15-year fixed mortgage rate was 3.95%, down from 4.00% last week.

The US Commerce Department reported that privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in April 2011 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 551,000. This is 4.0% below the revised March rate of 574,000 and 12.8% below the revised April 2010 estimate of 632,000. Single-family authorizations in April were at a rate of 385,000, 1.8% below the revised March figure of 392,000. Privately-owned housing starts in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 523,000, a drop of 10.6% from the revised March estimate of 585,000 and is 23.9% below the revised April 2010 rate of 687,000. Single-family housing starts in April were at a rate of 394,000, a 5.1% decline from the revised March figure of 415,000. Privately-owned housing completions in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 554,000, up 4.1% from the revised March estimate of 532,000, but 25.5% below the revised April 2010 rate of 744,000. Single-family housing completions in April were at a rate of 420,000. This is up 14.4% from the revised March figure of 367,000.

A housing forecast by the National Association of Home Builders echoes this dismal news. It expects 597,000 total housing starts for all of 2011, a slight increase from 2010, but far below the 1.8 million housing starts in the glory days of 2006. For 2012, it expects a modest bump up to 800,000 housing starts. According to NAHB, there’s about a nine month supply of homes (including condos and townhouses) available on the market in April 2011, up about a month from March 2011 and up about a month from April 2010.

As the US unemployment rate inched upwards to 9% in April, the Conference Board Employment Trends Index declined 0.6% in April 2011 to 100.5, down from the revised figure of 101.1 in March. The Federal Reserve lowered its forecast for the unemployment rate to between 8.4% and 8.7% at end of 2011, but did not change its estimate for 6.8% to 7.2% unemployment rate by late 2013. Most analysts predict slow and steady employment growth through the year.

The International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs reported its chain-store sales index for the week ending on May 14, 2011 dropped 2% from the prior week, but posted a 3.2% increase over prior year.

The Energy Department announced that for week ending May 2, 2011, the average price of U.S. gasoline fell to $3.960 a gallon, down from $3.965 per gallon week earlier.

Diesel prices rose to an average $4.10 per gallon, up from $4.12 last week.

For the week ended May 14, 2011, ShopperTrak’s National Retail Sales Estimate was $94.876 billion, down 6.8% from last week’s $103.910 billion, but up 8.3% from the same week last year. As expected, the post-Mother’s Day decline occurred and for once, the weather cooperated across the US. Even though gasoline prices remain high compared to last year, consumers are finding ways to deal with the increase in gasoline while spending for items they need. Nevertheless, expect sales to slide over the next few weeks.

Bankrate.com reported that the average conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 4.82%, down from last week’s 4.88%, according to its weekly national survey ending May 11, 2011. It also reported that the average 15-year fixed mortgage rate was 4.00%, down from 4.05% last week.

According to an International Housewares Assn. survey, the biggest challenge housewares manufacturers are anticipating was variable costs of transportation, materials, and supplies (42%). Next was new product development, production, and distribution (19%); supplier disruptions and shortages (15%); retail customer order commitments (13%); obtaining adequate credit and financing (6%); and fixed costs of rent, utilities, and labor (4%).

Bain & Co. is predicting luxury sales will rise 8% in 2011 to record $274 billion and that the market will reach a total of between $317 billion and $328 billion within three years. The company predicted Chinese consumers will increase their spending on luxury goods by 25%, year over year, and may finally surpass Japan as the world’s top luxury market. Shoppers in the Middle East, Russia, and Brazil will also increase their spending.

According to the Administrative Office of the US Courts, 12,376 businesses filed for bankruptcy in the 1st quarter 2011 ended March 31, down 15% from the 13,030 total business bankruptcies filed in the 4th quarter 2010. On a year-over-year basis, 54,212 businesses filed for bankruptcy during the 12-month period ending March 31, 2011, down 11% from the 61,148 business bankruptcies filed in the 12-month period ending March 31, 2010. With a recovering economy, the American Bankruptcy Institute anticipates a further drop in bankruptcies and expects filings for all of 2011 to drop below 1.5 million.