JOBLESS RATE DOWN 1% SINCE NOVEMBER
In March, the nation’s jobless rate declined to 8.8%. That is the lowest level of unemployment since April 2009 and represents a 1.0% reduction in unemployment in the last four months. The Labor Department said the economy added 216,000 jobs in March, 78,000 in the category of professional and business services._1,2

CONSUMER SPENDING UP 0.7%
Personal spending increased for the eighth month in a row in February, but Commerce Department data showed that much of the gain went to pay for higher food and energy costs. The Personal Consumption Index (PCE) advanced 0.4% for the month. So the inflation-adjusted gain in personal spending was 0.3%. Wages rose by 0.3% in February.₃

ISM: MANUFACTURING GROWTH MODERATES
The March PMI index from the Institute for Supply Management showed a slight reduction in the pace of the sector’s growth: it came in at 61.2 versus February’s 61.4 mark. However, the index has recorded 20 straight months of sector expansion.₄

IN REAL ESTATE, SOME MIXED NEWS
The National Association of Realtors said that pending home sales rose 2.1% in February. The number of contracts for existing home purchases was still down 8.2% from a year ago. In January, the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index fell 1.0% from its December level; if it slips another 1.2%, it will fall below its April 2009 trough, which would signal the dreaded “double dip”._5,6

STOCKS ADVANCE FOR THE WEEK & QUARTER
How did the big indices do last week? DJIA, +1.28% to 12,376.72; S&P 500, +1.42% to 1,332.41; NASDAQ, +1.70% to 2,789.60. In the first quarter, the DJIA gained 6.41%, the NASDAQ 4.83% and the S&P 500 5.42%._7,8

THIS WEEK: Monday, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke speaks at the Atlanta Fed. On Tuesday, the most recent FOMC minutes will be released, plus the ISM service sector report for March; we also get an earnings report from KB Home. Wednesday brings earnings from Monsanto and Bed, Bath & Beyond. Thursday we have announcements from the European Central Bank and Bank of England along with initial and continuing claims and earnings from Rite-Aid. No major economic releases are scheduled for Friday.




This information should not be construed as tax, legal, or investment advice. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a price-weighted index of 30 actively traded blue-chip stocks. The NASDAQ Composite Index is an unmanaged, market-weighted index of all over-the-counter common stocks traded on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System. The Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) is an unmanaged group of securities considered to be representative of the stock market in general. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.

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