Housing Starts up. Single Family Starts down.
CPI (March 2013)
– CPI core (less food & energy) Month/Month 0.1%
– CPI core (less food & energy) Year/Year 1.9%
– CPI Month/Month -0.2%
– CPI Year/Year 1.5%
Inflation contained at this level is well inside the safety zone the Federal Reserve wants to justify maintaining its loose monetary policy.
Housing Starts (March 2013)
– Starts – Level – 1,036,000. Previous was 917,000
– Permits – Level – 902,000. Previous was 946,000.
This data is the seasonally adjusted, annualized rate. Single-family housing starts in March were at a rate of 619,000 which is 4.8% below the revised February figure of 650,000. The March rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 392,000.
Housing Starts and Permits are counted in units. A 40 unit apartment building is 40 Housing Starts.
Chain Store Sales (week ended 4/13/2013)
ICSC-Goldman Store Sales
– Store Sales – Week/Week -1.1%. Previous was +0.7% – Store Sales – Year/Year 2.0%. Previous week was +2.1%.
Redbook
– Store Sales Year/Year 2.0 %. Previous was +2.5%.
In 2012 Easter was on April 8 so comparison of year/year data may be explained entirely by the movement of Easter into the 1st Q this year. The week/week data is of concern and continues to indicate weak GDP growth.
Industrial Production/Capacity Utilization (March 2013)
– Production Month/Month +0.4%. Previous was +0.7%.
– Capacity Utilization Rate 78.5%. Previous was 79.6%.
– Manufacturing Month/Month -0.1%. Previous was +0.9%.
Industrial Production was up because utility output was +5.3% due to colder weather. The manufacturing component is disappointingly soft.