Home Sales Tick Up In United States, But Manufacturing Industry Still Cool

Connecting the Dots monitors all major economic announcements in the United States and Canada, but MSCI also offers industrial metals industry-specific data products that provide much deeper analysis and insight. Visit MSCI’s website and click on industry data to learn more about our Metals Activity Report (MAR), Momentum Monitors, and Economic Pulse.

Meanwhile, here are the major economic headlines from the last week:

• U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 1.1 percent in the first quarter of 2023, down from 2.6 percent growth in the final quarter of 2022. The 1.1 percent GDP increase came from higher consumer spending, exports, federal government spending, state and local government spending, and nonresidential fixed investment. Those improvements were offset by declines in private inventory investment and residential fixed investment. Read the full report here. In other GDP-related news: the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s National Activity Index, a key indicator of future growth, was unchanged at -0.19 in March. Three of the four broad categories used to construct the index made negative contributions in March, and two categories (production and personal consumption) deteriorated from February. Read the full report here.
• The Canadian economy grew just 0.1 percent in February, down from 0.6 percent the month before. The latest reading puts Canada on track for an annualized growth rate of 2.5 percent in the first quarter of 2023. The lower monthly reading was due in part to the fact that wholesale and retail trade, along with manufacturing, contracted. Spending by government, scientific and technical services, construction, finance, and insurance did increase, however.
• The manufacturing industry in two regions of the United States softened last month. The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City reported its composite index for the Midwest region fell to -10 in April from 0 in March. The decline was driven primarily by lower output from nondurable goods plants, in particular printing, plastics, paper, and food manufacturing facilities. Read the full report here. The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond also reported deterioration in business conditions in April. Its composite index fell to -10 in April from -5 in March due to declines in shipments and new orders. The employment index did improve slightly. Read that full report here.
• As CNBC reported, electric vehicle sales across the globe surpassed more than 10 million units last year, a 55 percent from 2021. China accounted for about 60 percent of the growth. According to the International Energy Agency, more than 26 million electric vehicles were on the road in 2022, a 60 percent increase from 2021.
• According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 230,000 individuals filed for federal unemployment benefits for the first time during the week that ended April 22, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week. The four-week moving average of first-time claims also fell. The number of people who continued to receive benefits also declined, falling to 1.858 million during the week that ended April 15 from 1.861 million the week before. The four-week moving average of continuing claims increased, however.
• In other economic news: U.S. sales of new single-family houses rose 9.6 percent from February 2023 to March 2023, but were down 3.4 percent between March 2022 and March 2023; U.S. personal incomes rose 0.3 percent in March while personal consumption expenditures, a key gauge of future inflation, rose by less than 0.1 percent; and the Conference Board’s index of consumer confidence fell to 101.3 in April from 104.0 in March while the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index rose to 63.5 in April from 62.0 in March.