US job numbers decline

US employers have chopped 525,000 jobs since January as industrial production faced a decline for the third quarter in a row.

An economic update, published this month, from Deloitte and Touche, predicts that despite the gloom there is enough evidence to suggest that the American economy might pick up modestly in the second half of this year.

Deloitte & Touche notes that the National Association for Business Economics recently reported that members expect the economy to expand in the second half of the year. They predicted that total growth this year could be 3.6%.

The demand for 'condo' type apartments is so strong that prices are rising faster than for single-family homes. The average condo price now stands at $150, 700 - up 12% on a year ago. Single-family homes average $161,500.

The report highlights how real department stores prices have been steadily declining - the US Bureau of Economic Analysis says they dropped by almost 3% last year alone.