U.S. Economic News
April 2, 2018
U.S. Economic Indicators
The ISM Manufacturing Index fell 1.5 percentage points to 59.3 in March. The Employment Index decreased 2.4 percentage points to 57.3 while the New Orders Index declined 2.3 percentage points to 61.9. ISM Report
Construction spending was up 0.1% in February at an annualized rate of $1.27 trillion. Public construction fell 2.1% while private construction rose 0.7%. Census Report
U.S. News
The Financial Times reports that China has announced retaliatory tariffs on roughly $3 billion of U.S. goods in response to recent U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs. The tariffs target a wide range of luxury U.S. agricultural goods, along with specialized steel products and American pork. FT
According to the Wall Street Journal, vacancy rates in big U.S. malls in the first quarter of 2018 reached the highest level since 2012. Although the first quarter usually sees the weakest mall activity, experts say that this year has been especially weak despite strong overall economic activity. WSJ