There is still plenty of inventory to choose from and job worries abound, which will likely keep pressure on prices. But recent trends show that home sales seem to be stabilizing amid sizable discounts and record low mortgage rates.
Next, let's look at durable goods orders. Defined as manufactured goods designed to last more than three years, this is another important indicator that is used when trying to determine the health of the economy. The chart provided below by the Census Bureau underscores how badly goods-producers in the US have suffered following the blow-up in the financial markets last September.
Recent signs, however, suggest that orders are attempting to stabilize, and March's smaller-than-expected 0.8% decline is also raising hopes that a bottom is forming. In addition, non-defense capital goods that exclude aircraft posted a respectable gain for the second month in a row.
Why is this subset of the data important? Because these orders are a good proxy for business spending, and emerging indications that companies may be starting to loosen up on their purse strings provide us with another sign that the economic slump is starting to abate. One caveat, durable goods orders can be very volatile so I'll want to see this trend confirmed over the next couple of months.
0 comments:
Post a Comment