U.S. Housing Starts Data Underperforms; Jobless Claims Rise

[Purveyor]

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - U.S. housing starts rose far less than expected in March and factory activity in the mid-Atlantic region grew modestly this month, suggesting the economy could struggle to rebound from a soft patch hit in the first quarter.

The economy stumbled at the start of the year under the weight of a harsh winter, a resurgent dollar, weaker global growth and a now-resolved labor dispute at the West Coast ports.

There are expectations growth will rebound in the second quarter, but Thursday's lukewarm data suggest the momentum will probably not be strong enough for the Federal Reserve to start raising interest rates before September.

"The economy's tepid recovery in March makes it very unlikely the Fed signals a June rate hike at the April meeting," said Steve Blitz, chief economist at ITG Investment Research in New York. "If housing doesn't recover enough this spring, a September rate hike likely becomes equally improbable."

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/16/us-usa-economy-jobs-idUSKBN0N71FC20150416

[midnight]

1. These facts fall flat on the ears of those allowing this boom and bust banking scandal

to go unpunished. Time to re-look at why Iceland took the bankers to the woodshed and now are taking their right to print money for the country away...

[Kelvin Mace]

2. I just recently looked at the cost of building a house

to take into account my wife's disability and our desire to go as green as possible.

Even before looking at the added expense of solar, just looking at the house itself, a builder told me I was looking at about $150-$200 a square foot using ordinary grade material. Few people can afford those kind of prices, so it is no wonder housing starts are down.

[jtuck004]

3. , Bank$ters make more profits... < Should be part of such headlines,

given our preference to invest in them over foreclosures and people dropping into poverty.



Here

Good thing tar paper goes on sale periodically.