Tenth District manufacturing activity fell only slightly in April, and firms generally expect stable conditions in the months ahead. Price indexes in the survey continued to ease, with several indexes at historically low levels.

The net percentage of firms reporting month-over-month increases in production in April was -6, up from -21 in March and -24 in February. Production indexes increased at both durable and non-durable-goods producing plants, with the largest increases reported from chemicals, ...

The Chicago Purchasing Managers reported the CHICAGO BUSINESS BAROMETER surged to the best reading in seven months at 40.1:

BUSINESS ACTIVITY:
PRICES PAID index decline accelerated for the 3rd consecutive month;
PRODUCTION and NEW ORDERS turned upwards;
ORDER BACKLOG index regained traction;
EMPLOYMENT situation stabilized a bit as layoffs moderated;
BUYING POLICY: lead-times were mixed. ...

New York City business activity declined for a 15th straight month, according to the survey taken by the National Association of Purchasing Management-New York (NAPM-NY). The Current Business Conditions index fell to 28.3 in April, the lowest since 9/11, from March's revised level ...

For the week ending April 18, 2009, the DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer declined by -0.2 percent on top of a -0.7 percent drop in the prior week. The consumer really slowed down in the week following the Easter holiday as inflation-adjusted chain store sales, box office receipts, and home purchase applications fell. Encouraging, however, is ...

Total compensation costs for civilian workers increased 0.3 percent from December 2008 to March 2009, seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. This follows a 0.6 percent increase for the September to December 2008 period. In March 2009, wages and salaries also rose 0.3 percent, ...

In the week ending April 25, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 631,000, a decrease of 14,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 645,000. The 4-week moving average was 637,250, a decrease of 10,750 from the previous week's revised average of ...

Personal income decreased $34.4 billion, or 0.3 percent, and disposable personal income (DPI) decreased $1.8 billion, or less than 0.1 percent, in March, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) decreased $24.2 billion, or 0.2 percent. In February, personal income decreased $24.3 billion, or ...

Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in March indicates that the economy has continued to contract, though the pace of contraction appears to be somewhat slower. Household spending has shown signs of stabilizing but remains constrained by ongoing job losses, lower housing wealth, and tight credit. Weak sales ...

Real gross domestic product -- the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States -- decreased at an annual rate of 6.1 percent in the first quarter of 2009, (that is, from the fourth quarter to the first quarter), according to advance estimates released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the ...

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 24, 2009. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 960.6, a decrease of 18.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 1172.2 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index ...

In April, the seasonally adjusted manufacturing index — our broadest measure of manufacturing activity — contracted at a less pronounced rate to -9 from March's reading of -20. Among the index's components, shipments gained twelve points to -3, new orders rose eighteen points to finish at -2, and the jobs index edged up two points to end ...

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index™, which had posted a slight increase in March, improved considerably in April. The Index now stands at 39.2 (1985=100), up from 26.9 in March. The Present Situation Index increased to 23.7 from 21.9 last month. The Expectations Index rose to 49.5 from 30.2 ...

Data through February 2009, released today by Standard & Poor’s for its S&P/Case-Shiller1 Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, shows continued broad based declines in the prices of existing single family homes across the United States, with 10 of the 20 metro areas showing record rates of annual decline, and 15 ...

The International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs Retail Chain Store Sales Index fell 0.7% in the week ended Saturday from its level a week before on a seasonally adjusted, comparable-store basis. On a year-on-year basis, retailers saw sales fall 1.7% in the latest ...

The Chicago Fed Midwest Manufacturing Index (CFMMI) fell 2.4% in March, to a seasonally adjusted level of 82.0 (2002 = 100). Revised data show the index decreased 0.4% in February, to 84.0. The Federal Reserve Board’s industrial production index for manufacturing (IPMFG) fell 1.7% in March. Regional output in March was down 23.2% from a ...

The decline in Texas manufacturing activity slowed in April, according to the Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey. Indexes for production, capacity utilization, volume of new orders and shipments edged upward for the second consecutive month, but they remained negative, indicating manufacturers are still retrenching. For the most part, the ...

Sales of new one-family houses in March 2009 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 356,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 0.6 percent (±19.0%)* below the revised February rate of 358,000 and is 30.6 percent (±10.7%) below the March ...

New orders for manufactured durable goods in March decreased $1.3 billion or 0.8 percent to $161.2 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This was the seventh decrease in the last eight months and followed a 2.1 percent February increase. Excluding transportation, new orders decreased 0.6 percent. Excluding defense, new orders ...

Existing-home sales eased in March but first-time buyers are responding to low mortgage interest rates and tax credits, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – declined 3.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of 4.57 million units in March from a downwardly revised level of 4.71 million in February, and were 7.1 percent lower than the ...

For the week ending April 11, 2009, the DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer gave up its gain in the prior week by dropping -0.7 percent. Following five consecutive weeks of gains in which homebuyers dove in to take advantage of the best buying conditions in nearly 20 years, mortgage purchase applications dove in the week ending April 11th falling by ...

Employers took 2,933 mass layoff actions in March that resulted in the separation of 299,388 workers, seasonally adjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single ...

In the week ending April 18, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 640,000, an increase of 27,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 613,000. The 4-week moving average was 646,750, a decrease of 4,250 from the previous week's unrevised average of ...

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 17, 2009. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 1172.2, an increase of 5.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 1113.2 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index ...

The International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs Retail Chain Store Sales Index fell 0.4% in the week ended Saturday from its level a week before on a seasonally adjusted, comparable-store basis. On a year-on-year basis, retailers saw sales fall 0.1% in the latest ...

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index™ (LEI) for the U.S. decreased 0.3 percent, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index™ (CEI) decreased 0.4 percent and The Conference Board Lagging Economic Index™ (LAG) decreased 0.4 percent in March.

The Conference Board LEI for the U.S. declined again in March, and the index has not risen in the past nine months. Building permits, stock prices, and the index of supplier deliveries made large negative contributions to the index this month, more than offsetting continued ...

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index was –2.96 in March, down slightly from –2.82 in February. All four broad categories of indicators continued to make negative contributions to the index in March.

The three-month moving average, CFNAI-MA3, increased to –3.27 in March from –3.57 in the previous month. March’s CFNAI-MA3 suggests that growth in national economic activity was well below its historical trend. With regard to inflation, it indicates little inflationary ...

The region's manufacturing sector contracted less severely this month, according to firms polled for the April Business Outlook Survey. Indexes for general activity, new orders, and employment remained negative but improved somewhat from March. Indicative of continued weakness, firms reported declines in input prices and prices for their ...

For the week ending April 4, 2009, the DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer started out the second quarter of 2009 with a robust gain of +0.7 percent. Granted, the lion’s share of the jump was due to a surge in truck production, but other areas of the economy contributed nicely such as lumber production and mortgage applications (we have started to ...

In the week ending April 11, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 610,000, a decrease of 53,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 663,000. The 4-week moving average was 651,000, a decrease of 8,500 from the previous week's revised average of ...

BUILDING PERMITS
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 513,000. This is 9.0 percent (±4.1%) below the revised February rate of 564,000 and is 45.0 percent (±4.1%) below the March 2008 estimate of 932,000. Single-family authorizations in March were at a rate of ...

Reports from the Federal Reserve Banks indicate that overall economic activity contracted further or remained weak. However, five of the twelve Districts noted a moderation in the pace of decline, and several saw signs that activity in some sectors was stabilizing at a ...

Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes rose five points in April to the highest level since October 2008, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), released today. This gain was the largest one-month increase recorded since May of 2003, and brings the ...

Industrial production fell 1.5 percent in March after a similar decrease in February. For the first quarter as a whole, output dropped at an annual rate of 20.0 percent, the largest quarterly decrease of the current contraction. At 97.4 percent of its 2002 average, output in March fell to its lowest level since December 1998 and was nearly ...

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.2 percent in March, before seasonal adjustment, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The index has decreased 0.4 percent over the last year, the first 12 month decline since ...

The Empire State Manufacturing Survey indicates that conditions for New York manufacturers continued to deteriorate in April, but at a much slower pace than in recent months. The general business conditions index climbed 24 points from its March record low, to -14.7. The new orders index shot up 41 points to a reading just below zero, and ...

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 10, 2009. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 1113.2, a decrease of 11.0 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 1250.6 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index ...

The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that the combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for February, adjusted for seasonal and trading-day differences but not for price changes, was estimated at $994.9 billion, up 0.2 percent (±0.2%)* from January 2009, but down 13.0 percent (±0.6%) from February ...

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods decreased 1.2 percent in March, seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. This decline followed a 0.1-percent advance in February and a 0.8-percent increase in January. At the earlier stages of processing, prices received by producers ...

The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for March, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $344.4 billion, a decrease of 1.1 percent (±0.5%) from the previous month and 9.4 percent (±0.7%) below March 2008. Total sales ...

The International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs Retail Chain Store Sales Index rose 0.8% in the week to April 11 from its level a week before on a seasonally adjusted, comparable-store basis. On a year-on-year basis, retailers saw sales fall 0.4% in the latest ...

For the week ending March 28, 2009, the DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer reversed the prior week’s gain by falling -0.4 percent. The barometer closed out the first quarter of 2009 this week, revealing a severe pullback in production as businesses continued to struggle with excess inventories. Car and truck production alone represented a ...

In the week ending April 4, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 654,000, a decrease of 20,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 674,000. The 4-week moving average was 657,250, a decrease of 750 from the previous week's revised average of ...

The Nation's international deficit in goods and services decreased to $26.0 billion in February from $36.2 billion (revised) in January, as exports increased and imports decreased.

Goods and Services
Exports increased to $126.8 billion in February from $124.7 billion in January. Goods were $84.7 billion in February, up from $82.2 billion ...

The U.S. Import Price Index rose 0.5 percent in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. A 10.5 percent increase in import petroleum prices more than offset a 0.7 percent decline in the price index for nonpetroleum imports. In contrast, export prices fell in March, decreasing ...

The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that February 2009 sales of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonal variations and trading-day differences but not for price changes, were $319.7 billion, up 0.6 percent (+/-0.7%) from the revised January level and were down 14.3 percent ...

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 3, 2009. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 1250.6, an increase of 4.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 1194.4 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index ...

Consumer credit decreased at an annual rate of 3-1/2 percent in February 2009. Revolving credit decreased at an annual rate of 9-3/4 percent, and nonrevolving credit increased at an annual rate of 1/4 percent.

...

The International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs Retail Chain Store Sales Index increased 0.6% in the week to April 4 from its level a week before, on a seasonally-adjusted, comparable store basis. On a year-on-year basis, retailers saw sales decline by 0.3% in the latest ...

The Chicago Fed Midwest Manufacturing Index (CFMMI) decreased 0.4% in February, to a seasonally adjusted level of 83.8 (2002 = 100). Revised data show the index declined 6.7% in January, to 84.2. The Federal Reserve Board’s industrial production index for manufacturing (IPMFG) fell 0.7% in February. Regional output in February was down 22.2% ...

The NMI (Non-Manufacturing Index) registered 40.8 percent in March, 0.8 percentage point lower than the 41.6 percent registered in February, indicating contraction in the non-manufacturing sector for the sixth consecutive month at a slightly faster rate. The Non-Manufacturing Business Activity Index increased 3.9 percentage points to 44.1 ...