Industrial Production

March 18, 2025 Industrial production for February climbed 0.7% after having risen 0.3% in January and 1.1% in December.  the February increase was  attributable in large part to a dramatic 8.5% increase in automobile output. Breaking industrial production down into...

Housing Starts

March; 18, 2025 Housing starts surged by 11.2% in February to 1,501 thousand after plunging 11.5% in January.  The January decline reflected the brutally cold, snowy weather that existed in that month and the wildfires that devasted much of the Los Angeles area.  The...

Homebuilder Confidence

March 17, 2025 This series declined 3 points in March to 39 after having fallen 5 points in February and rising 1 point in January.  This is the  lowest reading for this index since December 2023  Builders are worried about the imposition of tariffs, still high...

Retail Sales

March 17, 2025 Retail sales rose 0.2% in February after having fallen 1.2% in January and having risen 0.7% in December.   In the past year retail sales have risen 3.2%  The wildfires in California that raged from January 7 through the end of January, and the bitter...