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The expiration of the 2010 Home Buyer Tax Credits on April 30 are unlikely to put off Americans looking to purchase homes who believe now is a good time to buy and are confident that home prices will rise according to a survey released by Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services, Inc., a Prudential Financial, Inc. company.

After months of focusing on savings, American families are responding to growing economic concerns by turning their attention to paying down debt.

Americans' confidence in their ability to access and pay for healthcare continued to decline last month, according to a new consumer sentiment index from Thomson Reuters.

The latest edition of the PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Manufacturing Barometer reports that cautious optimism continues to grow in regard to the U.S. and global economies among U.S.-based industrial manufacturers, according to the Q1 2010 report. Over half of industrial products manufacturers (53 percent) are optimistic about the U.S. economy's prospects over the next 12 months. Only 10 percent are pessimistic, a sharp contrast to 55 percent a year ago; while 37 percent remain uncertain.

Data through February 2010, released by Standard & Poor's for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, show that the annual rates of decline of the 10-City and 20-City Composites improved in February compared to January 2010. For the first time since December 2006, the annual rates of change for the two Composites are positive. The 10-City Composite is up 1.4% from where it was in February 2009, and the 20-City Composite is up 0.6% versus the same time last year. However, 11 of 20 cities saw year-over-year declines.

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index®, which had rebounded in March, increased further in April. The Index now stands at 57.9 (1985=100), up from 52.3 in March. The Present Situation Index increased to 28.6 from 25.2. The Expectations Index improved to 77.4 from 70.4.

Consumer confidence in the overall direction of the economy showed slight improvement from last month while confidence in technology dropped to its lowest level since March 2009, according to the latest figures released from the Consumer Electronics Association and CNET.

Nearly three-quarters of healthcare executives surveyed earlier this month say healthcare reform will have a negative financial impact on their facilities, while more than 60 percent note that reform will have a somewhat or very detrimental effect on the quality of care their facilities are able to provide.

Small business confidence jumped 9.4 points from March to April, bringing the measure of small business confidence back to where it was at the start of the year, according to the Discover® Small Business WatchSM. The index rose to 85.1, up from 75.7. A similar jump occurred last year when the index gained 10.3 points from March to April.

The message from the White House and from economists over the past few months is that the economy has turned the corner. The economy is getting better, but jobs and employment may lag behind other good economic indicators. While they may hear all of this, the American public may not be quite ready to embrace this good news, nor the messenger. Two-thirds of Americans (67%) give President Obama negative ratings on the overall job he is doing on the economy while 33% give him positive ratings. This is almost unchanged from last month when 68% gave him negative ratings and 32% gave the president positive marks on the economy.