Economic Data for Week 17-2012 | Global View | Week Rating
| DATE |
DAY |
REPORT/CATEGORY |
HIGHLIGHTS ON WEEK 17-2012 |
Last |
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Mon |
HSBC China Flash PMI |
April flash manufacturing PMI rose to a reading of 49.1 from the March final of 48.3. A reading below the breakeven point of 50 indicates contraction. |
49.1 |
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Chiina |
The reading suggests that earlier easing measures have started to work. However, the pace of both output and demand growth remains at a low level in an historical context and the job market is under pressure. |
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Tue |
ICSC Goldman Sachs Index |
The International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs Retail Chain Store Sales Index rose 0.8% in the week ended Saturday from the week before. |
0.8% W/W |
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Sales and Inventories |
Warm weather, receding gasoline prices and improving high-income household consumer confidence all supported spending over the latest week. |
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Tue |
Johnson Redbook |
National chain store sales slipped 0.1% in the first three weeks of April from March, according to Redbook Research's latest indicator, released Tuesday. |
2.7% |
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Sales and Inventories |
The Johnson Redbook Index also showed seasonally adjusted sales for the period is a disappointment after this morning's positive ICSC-Goldman number. |
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Tue |
FOMC Meeting #3 Day 1 of 2 |
The Fed is estimating that unemployment, now at a three-year low of 8.2%, will be between 7.8% and 8% at year's end. Its prediction for inflation is slightly higher but remains below its 2% target. |
N/A |
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Interest Rates |
11 Fed officials expect the first interest rate hike will not occur until 2014 or later, the same number who said so in January. |
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Tue |
S&P Case-Shiller Index |
U.S. home prices dropped sharply in February to hit the worst level in nearly a decade falling 0.8% compared to January levels to take the Yr/Yr drop to 3.5%. The index is at its lowest level since October 2002. |
0.2%
M/M
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Real Estate |
The decline may be due to the typical pattern of diminished interest during the winter and heightened interest in housing during the spring and summer, as prices rose 0.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis. |
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Tue |
New Home Sales |
Taken together, sales over the past two months indicate a housing market emerging slowly from its worst slump in modern times, though a warm winter almost certainly boosted demand. |
328K |
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Real Estate |
Sales of new U.S. houses fell 7.1% in March, but only because purchases in February were revised sharply higher. new homes in the U.S. were sold at an annual rate of 328,000 last month. |
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Tue |
Consumer Confidence |
A gauge of U.S. consumer confidence has declined for a second month, due to lower expectations. Generally when the economy is growing at a good clip, confidence readings are at least 90. |
69.2 |
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Consumer |
The consumer-confidence index fell to 69.2 in April from a revised March reading of 69.5. A prior estimate had pegged March's confidence level at 70.2. |
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Tue |
FHFA House Price Index |
The Federal Housing Finance Agency said home prices in February rose 0.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis. Compared to the same period of 2011, prices are up 0.4%. |
0.9% |
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|
Real Estate |
The Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) Home Price Index rose 0.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis from January to February. |
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Wed |
MBA purchase Applications |
Mortgage interest rates declined to the lowest levels in the history of the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey during the week ended April 20. |
-2.4% W/W |
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Real Estate |
The MBA's seasonally adjusted Market Composite Index was down 3.8 percent and 3.3 percent on an unadjusted basis. |
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Wed |
Durable Goods Orders |
Demand for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods dropped by the most in three years in March and a gauge of business spending plans fell, suggesting factory activity lost momentum. |
-4.2%
M/M |
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Manufacturing |
Durable goods orders tumbled 4.2%, the largest decline since January 2009, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday after a downwardly revised 1.9% increase in February. |
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Wed |
EIA Crude Oil Report |
Oil futures gave up their gains Wednesday after the government reported a bigger-than-expected increase in U.S. oil inventories. |
4.0M
Barrels |
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Commodity |
Benchmark Nymex futures gave their roughly 30-cent gain after the Department of Energy said weekly oil inventories rose 4 million barrels last week: expected 1.9 million barrels |
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Wed |
FOMC Meeting #3 Day 2 of 2 |
The Federal Reserve has boosted its outlook for U.S. economic growth this year and is slightly more optimistic about the unemployment rate, reflecting improvements in recent months. |
N/A |
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Interest Rates |
The Fed predicts the economy will grow between 2.4% and 2.9% in 2012. That compares with its forecast in January, when it estimated growth this year between 2.2% and 2.7%. |
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Thu |
Jobless/Initial Claims |
The number of Americans who filed requests for jobless benefits was virtually unchanged last week at 388,000. |
388,000 |
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Employment |
Initial jobless claims are still high, near their highest level of 2012. Claims from two weeks ago were revised up to 389,000 from 386,000. |
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Thu |
Chicago Fed National Activity Index |
The Chicago Fed National Activity Index, a weighted average of 85 economic indicators, deteriorated to minus 0.29 in March from a revised 0.07 in February. |
-0.29% |
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Growth |
The 3-month average plunged to 0.05 from February�s 0.37. Though disappointingly falling back a negative territory for the first time in four months . |
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Tue |
Pending Home Sales |
An index of pending home sales climbed 4.1% in March to reach the highest level since April 2010. A 4.1% jump to 101.4 convincingly extends the strong upward trend for the pending home sales index. |
101.4 |
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Real Estate |
The index rose to 101.4 in March from an upwardly revised 97.4 in February, which represents a 12.8% gain from March 2011. February's pending home sales index was initially reported to be 96.5. |
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Thu |
EIA Natural Gas Report |
Natural-gas futures ended a volatile session lower Thursday, following a government report that revised a month's worth of U.S. natural-gas inventory data. |
N/A |
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Commodity |
Natural gas for May delivery settled 3.2 cents, or 1.6%, lower to expire at $2.036 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. |
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Thu |
Fed Balance Sheet |
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N/A |
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Government |
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Thu |
M2 Money Supply |
A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing. Sales of existing homes during the first quarter were the strongest in five years, and the trade group said the pending home sales data suggests the second quarter will be equally good |
N/A |
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Money Supply |
Total claims are reported with a two-week lag. Continuing claims are reported with a one-week lag. About 6.68 million people received some kind of state or federal benefit in the week ended April 7, down 87,160 from the prior week. |
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Fri |
Fixed Mortgage Rates |
30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.88% with an average 0.7 point for the week ending April 26, 2012, down from last week when it averaged 3.90%. |
3.88%
APR |
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Interest Rates |
15-year FRM this week averaged 3.12% with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.13%. |
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Fri |
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) |
Gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced in the U.S., rose at a 2.2% annual rate after a 3% pace. |
2.2% |
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Growth |
The U.S. economy grew at a slower pace in the first quarter of 2012, increasing concerns about the health of the recovery. The blow was softened by a rise in consumer spending |
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Fri |
Employment Cost Index |
Employment expenses in the U.S. rose in the first quarter at a rate indicating wage pressures won�t stoke inflation. |
0.4% |
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Employment |
The employment cost index increased 0.4%, less than forecast, and followed a revised 0.5% gain in the prior quarter. |
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Fri |
Consumer Sentiment |
Confidence among U.S. consumers climbed in April to the highest level in a year as Americans became more upbeat about the outlook for the economy. |
76.4 |
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Consumer |
The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan�s final index of sentiment increased to 76.4 from 76.2 last month. The gauge was projected to hold at the 75.7 level initially reported earlier this month. |
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