- Advance estimates of retail and food services sales for March were down 8.7% from February and were down 6.2% from March 2019. Excluding motor vehicle & parts, retail sales in March were down 4.5% from the previous month and were down 1.7% from a year ago. Year-to-date, retail sales were up 1.7% from the same period a year ago.
- Total manufacturing and trade sales for February were down 0.5% from January but were up 1.4% from February 2019. Total business inventories for February were down 0.4% from the previous month and were down 0.1% from a year ago.
- Total Industrial production decreased 5.4% in March following a 0.5% increase in the previous month. The index was 5.5% below its March 2019 level.
- Capacity utilization for the industrial sector decreased 4.3 percentage points in March to 72.7, a rate that is 7.1 percentage points below its long-run (1972-2019) average, and 5.7 percentage points below March 2019 level.
- The import price index decreased 2.3% in March, following a 0.7% decrease in the previous month. The export price index decreased 1.6%, following a 1.1% decrease in the previous month. Import prices decreased 4.1% from March 2019 to March 2020, while export prices decreased 3.6%.
- Housing starts in March were down 22.3% from the previous month but were up 1.4% from a year ago. Building permits were down 6.8% from the previous month but were up 5.0% from a year ago. Year-to-date, housing starts were up 22.3% from the same period a year ago, while building permits were up 12.1%.
- The results of Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed that mortgage rates were near all-time lows. 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.31% for the week ending April 16, down from last week when it averaged 3.33%. A year-ago this time, the 30-year fixed-rate averaged 4.17%. 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.80%, up from last week when it averaged 2.77%. A year-ago this time, the 15-year fixed-rate averaged 3.62%.
- Mortgage applications increased 7.3% from a week earlier, according to data from Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey for the week ending April 10th.
- The advance figure for initial claims for unemployment insurance decreased 1,370 thousand to 5,245 thousand in the week ending April 11. The 4-week moving average was 5,508.5 thousand, an increase of 1,240.75 thousand from the previous week’s average. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment (ongoing) during the week ending April 4 was 11,976 thousand, an increase of 4,530 thousand from the previous week’s revised level. This marks the highest level of seasonally adjusted insured unemployment in the history of the seasonally adjusted series. The 4-week moving average was 6,066.25 thousand, an increase of 2,568.5 thousand from the previous week’s revised average.
- Median weekly earnings of the nation’s 115.9 million full-time wage and salary workers were $957 in the first quarter of 2020 (not seasonally adjusted), according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This was 5.7% higher than a year earlier, compared with a gain of 2.1% in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) over the same period.
- Unemployment rates were higher in March in 29 states and the District of Columbia, lower in 3 states, and stable in 18 states and, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Twenty-three states had jobless rate increases from a year earlier, 3 states had decreases, and 24 states and the District of Columbia had little or no change. Nonfarm payroll employment decreased in 31 states in March 2020 and was essentially unchanged in 19 states and the District of Columbia. Over the year, nonfarm payroll employment increased in 13 states, decreased in 2, and was essentially unchanged in 35 states and the District of Columbia.
- The FED’s “Beige Book” indicated that overall economic activity contracted sharply and abruptly across all regions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Producers of food and medical products reported strong demand but faced both production delays, due to infection-prevention measures, and supply chain disruptions. Some other manufacturing industries, such as autos, mostly shut down. All Districts reported highly uncertain outlooks among business contacts, with most expecting conditions to worsen in the next several months. Employment declined steeply in almost all Districts. Employment cuts were most severe in the retail and leisure and hospitality sectors, where most Districts reported widespread mandatory closures and steep falloffs in demand. Districts reported either slowing price growth, flat prices, or modest to moderate declines in prices on balance.
- The April Empire State Manufacturing Survey indicated that business activity plunged in New York. The general business conditions index was negative 78.2 in April, compared with negative 21.5 in March. The prices paid index decreased 18.7 points, while the prices received index decreased 18.5 points.
- The Philadelphia FED business outlook survey for April reported continued weakening in manufacturing activity in the region. The indicator for general activity, decreased to negative 56.6 in April, from negative 12.7 in March. The prices paid index decreased to negative 9.3, while prices received index decreased to negative 10.6.
- As of April 17th, there are over 2 million COVID-19 confirmed cases in the world and 150 thousand deaths (over 550 thousand recovered), according to Johns Hopkins University, Coronavirus Resource Center. In the United States, there are 670 thousand confirmed cases, 33 thousand deaths, and 56 thousand recovered cases.
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