Residential housing construction rebounded last month, but by less than expected, the US Census Bureau reports. Econoday.com’s consensus view anticipated a strong gain to 1.04 million units in seasonally adjusted annualized terms for March. The actual number turned out to be substantially lower: 926,000. That’s above February’s revised total of 908,000 starts, but mildly so. No wonder that the annual trend for construction remains flat to negative so far this year.
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As it lays the groundwork for raising interest rates, the Federal Reserve has been squeezing the annual growth rate of the real (inflation-adjusted) supply of so-called high-powered money (aka base money (M0)). But economic growth has turned wobbly lately, including yesterday’s disappointing report on industrial production for March. The slowdown bias overall is expected to pare US GDP growth in this year’s first quarter to a virtual standstill, according to the Atlanta Fed’s current projection. Given the current climate, it’s no surprise to learn that the year-over-year change for the real monetary base ticked higher in March after decelerating sharply for more than a year.
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● Mining, utilities sink US industrial production in March | Reuters
● New York Manufacturing Activity Unexpectedly Contracts In April | RTT
● Survey Indicates Builder Confidence on the Rise in April | MReport
● US Mortgage Applications Fall After Consecutive Gains | ON
● Inflation Expected at 1.7% In Year Ahead via Atlanta Fed Survey | Atlanta Fed
● Fed beige book: US Economy still growing but slowly | USA Today