Slow, Steady Improvement in Jobs

Initial Jobless Claims
-348,000 for week ended March 17, seasonally adjusted
-Down 5,000 from previous week’s 353,000
-4-week moving average was 355,000, down 1,250 from previous week
-Jobs market shows steady if slow improvement
–Full report

FHFA House Price Index (January 2012)
– Month/Month – flat
– Year/Year -0.8%
– This is an index of home prices for homes purchased in January with Fannie or Freddie financing, so it’s less important than Case Shiller home prices, which come out next Tuesday.

Leading Economic Indicatiors (February 2012)
(LEI) for the U.S. increased 0.7 percent in February to 95.5 (2004 = 100), following a 0.2 percent increase in January and a 0.5 percent increase in December.