The Chicago Business Barometer increased 6.0 points to 53.6 in March, led by sharp bouncebacks in Production and Employment.

Four of the five Barometer components increased between February and March, with only Supplier Deliveries declining on the month. Movements in the Barometer and its components have been volatile over the past few months, while trend growth has remained weak. March’s ...

For the week ending March 19 2016, the BTMU U.S. Business Barometer dropped by 0.4 percent to 97.4. This week’s fall was chiefly driven by consumption indexes, in which chain store sales declined by 2.1 percent, following a rebound of 1.3 percent in the previous week. MBA’s purchase index and railroad freight car loadings also recorded losses. ...

In the week ending March 26, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 276,000, an increase of 11,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 265,000. The 4-week moving average was 263,250, an increase of 3,500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 259,750. There were no special factors impacting this week's ...

Job cuts declined for the second consecutive month in March, as US-based employers announced plans to trim payrolls by 48,207 during the month, according to new figures released Thursday by global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

The March total was 21.7 percent lower than the 61,599 job cuts in February. It was the lowest monthly total since December, when 23,622 were announced. ...

Online advertised vacancies decreased 31,500 to 5,130,500 in March, according to The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine® (HWOL) Data Series,released today. The February Supply/Demand rate stands at 1.51 unemployed for each advertised vacancy with a total of 2.7 million more unemployed workers than the number of advertised vacancies. The number ...

Private sector employment increased by 200,000 jobs from February to March according to the March ADP National Employment Report®. Broadly distributed to the public each month, free of charge, the ADP National Employment Report is produced by ADP® in collaboration with Moody’s Analytics. The report, which is derived from ADP’s actual payroll ...

Mortgage applications decreased 1.0 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 25, 2016.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 1.0 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 1 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index decreased 3 ...

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index®, which had decreased in February, improved in March. The Index now stands at 96.2 (1985=100), up from 94.0 in February. The Present Situation Index declined moderately from 115.0 to 113.5, while the Expectations Index increased from 79.9 to 84.7 ...

S&P Dow Jones Indices today released the latest results for the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices. Data released today for January 2016 show that home prices continued their rise across the country over the last 12 months.

Year-over-Year
The S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, covering all nine U.S. census divisions, recorded a slightly higher year-over-year gain with a 5.4% annual increase in January 2016. The 10-City Composite is up slightly at 5.1% for the year. The 20-City ...

The Paychex | IHS Small Business Jobs Index moderated slightly—from 100.75 in February to 100.74 in March. The first quarter of 2016 marks the index’s best three-month increase in two years, with a gain of 0.36 percent. The Mountain region remains the top-performing regional index. Washington extends its lead among states, increasing 0.39 ...

Texas factory activity expanded slightly in March, according to business executives responding to the Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey. The production index, a key measure of state manufacturing conditions, rebounded to positive territory this month—coming in at 3.3—after two months of ...

Pending home sales rose solidly in February to their highest level in seven months and remain higher than a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Led by a sizeable increase in the Midwest, all major regions except for the Northeast saw an increase in contract activity ...

Personal income increased $23.7 billion, or 0.2 percent, and disposable personal income (DPI) increased $23.7 billion, or 0.2 percent, in February, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $11.0 billion, or 0.1 percent. In January, personal income increased $72.7 billion, or 0.5 percent, ...

Real gross domestic product -- the value of the goods and services produced by the nation's economy less the value of the goods and services used up in production, adjusted for price changes -- increased at an annual rate of 1.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015, according to the "third" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. ...

Tenth District manufacturing activity remained negative, while producers’ expectations for future activity weakened. Most price indexes edged higher in March, but remained at low levels.

The month-over-month composite index was -6 in March, up from -12 in February and -9 in January . The composite index is an average of the production, new orders, employment, supplier delivery time, and raw materials inventory indexes. The improvement in the index came from ...

For the week ending March 12 2016, the BTMU U.S. Business Barometer bounced back by 0.5 percent to 97.8, driven by both consumption and production indexes. Chain store sales picked up by 1.3 percent, after a sharp loss of 1.9 percent in the previous week. Other consumption indexes such as MBA’s purchase index and railroad freight car loadings ...

New Orders
New orders for manufactured durable goods in February decreased $6.6 billion or 2.8 percent to $229.4 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This decrease, down three of the last four months, followed a 4.2 percent January increase. Excluding transportation, new orders decreased 1.0 percent. Excluding defense, new ...

In the week ending March 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 265,000, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 6,000 from 265,000 to 259,000. The 4-week moving average was 259,750, an increase of 250 from the previous week's revised average. ...

Sales of new single-family houses in February 2016 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 512,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 2.0 percent (±18.8%)* above the revised January rate of 502,000, but is 6.1 percent (±17.9%)* below ...

Mortgage applications decreased 3.3 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 18, 2016.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 3.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 3 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index decreased 5 ...

Fifth District manufacturing activity expanded in March, according to the most recent survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Shipments and the volume of new orders increased this month. Employment advanced at a slightly faster pace in March, while average wages grew moderately and the average workweek lengthened. Prices of raw ...

Regional nonmanufacturing activity rose in March, according to firms responding to this month's Nonmanufacturing Business Outlook Survey. Although the survey's indexes for current general activity at the firm level and employment fell from last month, both indicators remained positive. The sales and new orders indexes improved, and most ...

After increasing to the highest annual rate in six months, existing-home sales tumbled in February amidst unshakably low supply levels and steadfast price growth in several sections of the country, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Led by the Northeast and Midwest, all four major regions experienced sales declines ...

Led by declines in production-related indicators, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) fell to –0.29 in February from +0.41 in January. All four broad categories of indicators that make up the index decreased from January, and three of the four categories made negative contributions to the index ...

The number of job openings rose to 5.5 million on the last business day of January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Hires declined to 5.0 million while separations edged down to 4.9 million. Within separations, the quits rate was 2.0 percent, and the layoffs and discharges rate was 1.2 percent. This release includes ...

For the week ending March 5 2016, the BTMU U.S. Business Barometer fell by 0.4 percent to 97.3, largely driven by weak performances in production indexes. For example, auto and truck production declined by 2.6 and 6.5 percent, respectively. Likewise, coal and steel production dipped by 3.4 and 0.9 percent, respectively. As to the consumption ...

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the U.S. increased 0.1 percent in February to 123.2 (2010 = 100), following a 0.2 percent decline in January, and a 0.3 percent decline in December.

“The U.S. LEI increased slightly in February, after back-to-back monthly declines, but housing permits, stock prices, consumer expectations, and new orders remain sources of weakness,” said Ataman Ozyildirim, Director of Business Cycles and Growth Research at The Conference ...

Firms responding to the Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey reported an improvement in business conditions this month. The indicator for general activity rose sharply in March to its first positive reading in seven months. Other broad indicators offered similar signals of growth: The indexes for shipments and new orders also rose notably. ...

The U.S. current-account deficit—a net measure of transactions between the United States and the rest of the world in goods, services, primary income (investment income and compensation), and secondary income (current transfers)—decreased to $125.3 billion (preliminary) in the fourth quarter of 2015 from $129.9 billion (revised) in the ...

In the week ending March 12, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 265,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 1,000 from 259,000 to 258,000. The 4-week moving average was 268,000, an increase of 750 from the previous week's revised average. ...

Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in January suggests that economic activity has been expanding at a moderate pace despite the global economic and financial developments of recent months. Household spending has been increasing at a moderate rate, and the housing sector has improved further; however, business ...

Industrial production decreased 0.5 percent in February after increasing 0.8 percent in January. Sizable declines in the indexes for both utilities and mining in February outweighed a gain of 0.2 percent for manufacturing. The output of utilities dropped 4.0 percent, as unseasonably warm weather curbed the demand for heating. Mining ...

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) declined 0.2 percent in February on a seasonally adjusted basis, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 1.0 percent before seasonal adjustment.

The energy index continued to decrease and was the major cause of the seasonally adjusted decline in the all items index, more than offsetting increases in the indexes for food and for all items less food and energy. The gasoline index fell sharply, declining 13.0 percent, ...

Real average hourly earnings for all employees were unchanged from January to February, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This result stems from a 0.1-percent decrease in average hourly earnings being offset by a 0.2-percent decrease in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban ...

BUILDING PERMITS
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,167,000. This is 3.1 percent (±0.8%) below the revised January rate of 1,204,000, but is 6.3 percent (±2.0%) above the February 2015 estimate of 1,098,000. Single-family authorizations in February were at a ...

Mortgage applications decreased 3.3 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 11, 2016.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 3.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 3 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index decreased 6 ...

The U.S. Department of the Treasury today released Treasury International Capital (TIC) data for January 2016. The sum total in January of all net foreign acquisitions of long-term securities, short-term U.S. securities, and banking flows was a monthly net TIC inflow of $118.4 billion. Of this, net foreign private inflows were $175.8 billion, ...

The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that the combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for January, adjusted for seasonal and trading-day differences but not for price changes, was estimated at $1,296.2 billion, down 0.4 percent (±0.3%) from December 2015 and was down 1.1 percent (±0.4%) from ...

Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes was unchanged in March at a level of 58 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI).

“Confidence levels are hovering above the 50-point mid-range, indicating that the single-family market continues to make slow but steady progress,” said NAHB Chairman Ed Brady, a home builder and developer from Bloomington, Ill. “However, builders continue to report ...

The Producer Price Index for final demand fell 0.2 percent in February, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Final demand prices advanced 0.1 percent in January and declined 0.2 percent in December. On an unadjusted basis, the final demand index was unchanged for the 12 months ended in ...

The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for February, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $447.3 billion, a decrease of 0.1 percent (±0.5%) from the previous month, and 3.1 percent (±0.7%) above February 2015. ...

The March 2016 Empire State Manufacturing Survey indicates that business activity steadied for New York manufacturers. The headline general business conditions climbed seventeen points to 0.6, its first positive reading since July of last year. The new orders and shipments indexes rose well above zero for the first time in several months, ...

U.S. import prices fell 0.3 percent in February following a 1.0-percent drop in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The February decrease was mostly led by declining fuel prices. The price index for U.S. exports decreased 0.4 percent in February, after falling 0.8 percent the ...

For the week ending February 27 2016, the BTMU U.S. Business Barometer declined by 0.2 percent to 97.7, driven by weak performances in both consumption and production indexes. Chain store sales slid by 0.2 percent after remaining flat in the prior week; while MBA’s purchase index and railroad freight car loadings also reported minor losses. As ...

In the week ending March 5, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 259,000, a decrease of 18,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 1,000 from 278,000 to 277,000. The 4-week moving average was 267,500, a decrease of 2,500 from the previous week's revised average. ...

The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that January 2016 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 $433.1 billion, down 1.3 percent (+/-0.9%) from the revised December level and were down 3.1 percent ...

Mortgage applications increased 0.2 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 4, 2016.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 0.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 1 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index decreased 2 ...

The Index of Small Business Optimism fell 1 point from January, falling to 92.9. None of the 10 Index components posted a gain, six posted small declines, and four were unchanged. Overall, a “ho hum” outcome, confirming that the small business sector is not headed up with any strength, just treading water waiting for a good reason to invest in ...

In January, consumer credit increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3-1/2 percent. Revolving credit decreased at an annual rate of 1-1/4 percent, while nonrevolving credit increased at an annual rate of 5-1/2 percent

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