Orders for durable goods, a leading indicator of economic activity, fell 0.9% last month on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Census Bureau reports. The decrease follows a strong 3.6% gain in January. Economists were expecting a gain. Monthly data is volatile, however, and so it’s not clear if there’s something more ominous afoot.
Daily Archives: March 24, 2011
Jobless Claims Fall Again. Will Rising Energy Prices Slow or Derail The Trend?
New jobless claims fell again last week, dropping by a seasonally adjusted 5,000 to 382,000, the Labor Department reports. The widely watched four-week moving average slipped as well, retreating to its lowest level in two-and-a-half years. It’s clear that new filings are trending lower once more, if slowly. But the ongoing strength in the oil market raises the question of whether higher energy prices are a threat?
Strategic Briefing | 3.24.2011 | Portugal: The Next Phase Of Euro Crisis
Portugal in crisis after prime minister resigns over austerity measures
Guardian | Mar 23
Portuguese prime minister José Sócrates has said he has submitted his resignation to the president after parliament rejected his minority Socialist government’s latest austerity measures. The loss of the vote “has taken away from the government all conditions to govern,” Sócrates said. It brings the country closer to needing a bailout.
Portugal bailout ‘could cost UK £3bn’
Guardian | Mar 23
“Portugal will inevitably ask for a bailout,” said Open Europe’s Raoul Ruparel. “But the cases of Ireland and Greece clearly illustrate that the EU’s strategy – to throw good money after bad – is failing. Rather than simply taking a bailout, it would be better in the long run for Portugal to restructure its debt now,” Ruparel added.
Merkel Says Socrates Was ‘Right’ to Push for More Portugal Cuts
Bloomberg | Mar 24
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates did the right thing in putting a “far-reaching” program of austerity measures to parliament. Merkel, in a speech to lower-house lawmakers in Berlin today, said that Socrates had been “right and courageous” in presenting an additional round of budget cuts, and that she was “grateful” to him for taking responsibility for his country’s finances.