Thursday, April 19, 2012

March 2012 US manufacturing declines, Housing starts slip 5.8%

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"Housing starts slipped 5.8 percent in March."

4/17/12, "U.S. factory decline suggests economy losing steam," Reuters

"Output at U.S. factories slipped in March and builders started construction on fewer homes, offering cautionary signals for an economy that appeared to be gaining traction.

Manufacturing output slipped for the first time in four months, dropping 0.2 percent, the U.S. Federal Reserve said on Tuesday.

The decline dragged on overall industrial production which was unchanged and fell short of analysts' expectations.

"It looks pretty bad on the face of it," said Tom Porcelli, an economist at RBC Capital Markets in New York....

Housing starts slipped 5.8 percent in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 654,000 units, the Commerce Department said.

That unwinds some of the incipient recovery seen in recent months in the long-moribund U.S. housing sector....

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4/18/12, "Mortgage Applications Jump On Refinancing Surge," Reuters via CNBC

"Loan requests for home purchases dropped 11.2 percent. It was the second week in a row purchases have declined."

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"Tired' right wing spin: The 'mortgage application' story's purpose was to sell a big increase in 'mortgage applications' but the applications were mostly for re-financing of present homes. The important news about an 11.2% drop in loan requests for actual home purchases did not make the headline or first paragraph. It was an aside in the third paragraph.

via Hot Air

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