U.S. Economic News
March 17, 2020
U.S. Economic Indicators
Retail sales fell 0.5% in February (up 4.3% from February a year ago). Core sales — which exclude autos, gasoline, building materials, and food services — were unchanged. Census Bureau Report
Industrial production rose 0.6% in February (unchanged year-over-year) after falling 0.5% (revised) in January. Capacity utilization increased 0.4 point to 77.0 in February. Fed Report
Business inventories declined 0.1% in January but were up 1.0% from January of last year. Manufacturers’ sales declined 0.5% in January but ticked up 0.1% compared to a year ago. Census Bureau Report
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (“JOLTS”), a closely-watched measure of labor market health, indicated that the number of job openings increased to 7.0 million in January. The number of hires was little changed at 5.8 million, while the quits rate was unchanged at 2.3 percent. BLS Report