New filings for unemployment declined last week, the Labor Department reports, delivering a bullish surprise relative to expectations for a slight rise. The news offers another upbeat clue for thinking that the economy’s recent stumbles are a temporary soft patch rather than the start of deeper troubles.
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This week’s initial peek at the March economic profile for the US via Markit’s survey data for manufacturing delivered upbeat news, which takes some of the edge off for expecting trouble. Later today we’ll see the equivalent for the services sector. Economists via Econoday.com’s consensus forecast are anticipating that the PMI Services Index will hold on to recent gains, in which case we’ll have a new clue for expecting brisk growth for this corner of the economy. But while the tail-end of the first-quarter is showing mild signs of revival, the outlook for Q1 GDP continues to stumble.
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● US Durable Goods Orders Stumbled in February | NY Times
● US Mortgage applications at highest level since January | CNBC
● Euro zone M3 money supply grows 4% in February | Investing.com
● German consumer morale hits highest level in 13-1/2 years: Gfk | Reuters
● French GDP Growth Confirmed At 0.1% | RTT