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4th quarter GDP revision; February's consumer prices and existing home sales; January’s income and outlays, trade deficit, job openings, durable goods, and new housing starts

The key economic reports released last week were the 2nd estimate of 4th quarter GDP and the January report on Personal Income and Spending , both from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the Consumer Price Index Summary for February from the Bureau of Labor Statistics…other widely watched releases included the Commerce Dept’s report on our International Trade for January , the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report for January from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers’ Shipments Inventories and Orders for January and the January report on New Residential Construction , both from the Census Bureau, and the Existing Home Sales Report for February from the National Association of Realtors (NAR)… 4th Quarter GDP Grew at a 0.7% Rate, Revised from the 1.4% rate Shown in the Advance Estimate The Second Estimate of our 4th Quarter GDP from the Bureau of Economic Analysis indicated that our real output of goods and servic...

February’s jobs, January’s retail sales, December’s business inventories, et al

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Last week’s major releases included the Employment Situation Summary for February from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Retail Sales Report for January and the Business Sales and Inventories Report for December from the Census Bureau….in addition, the Fed released the Consumer Credit Report for January , which showed that overall consumer credit, a measure of non-real estate debt, grew by a seasonally adjusted $8.1 billion, or at a 1.9% annual rate, as non-revolving credit expanded at a 1.1% annual rate to $3,782.4 billion, while revolving credit outstanding grew at 4.3% rate to $1,329.0 billion… The week’s privately issued reports included the ADP Employment Report for February , wherein the national payroll processor estimated that private employers added 63,000 jobs in February, the light vehicle sales report for February from Wards Automotive , which estimated that vehicles sold at a 15.8 million annual rate in February, up from the 14.85 million annual rate in January, b...

January’s producer prices; December’s construction spending, factory inventories, and wholesale trade

Major economic reports released the past week included the Producer Price Index for January , and three December reports that included metrics that were only estimated in last week’s 4th quarter GDP release: the November and December reports on Construction Spending , the Full Report on Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders for December , and the December report on Wholesale Trade, Sales and Inventories , with all of those from the Census Bureau…. In addition, last week also saw the release the last three regional Fed manufacturing surveys for February: the Kansas City Fed manufacturing survey for February , covering western Missouri, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming and northern New Mexico, reported its broadest composite index rose to 5 in February, up from 0 in January and 0 in December, indicating that a small plurality that region’s manufacturers saw improving business conditions in February; the Richmond Fed Survey of Manufacturing Activity , covering a...