U.S. stocks had a solid week based on strong corporate earnings reports, the Dow gained 1.5%. The S&P 500 advanced 1.8% and the Nasdaq was up 2.3%.
Below are links to the top economics news for the week:
- Consumer Sentiment Improves
- U.S. Rig Count is down 27 rigs from last week at 1,945
- Real GDP increased 2.2% annual rate in Q1
- In March, 1,273 mass layoff actions affected 121,310 workers
- Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims at 388,000
- Durable goods orders decreased 4.2 percent in March
- Office Market Nears Rent Growth Tipping Point
- March Pending Home Sales Rise, Market Recovering
- Texas Job Growth Slows in March
- House Prices fall to new post-bubble lows in February
- FOMC Statement: Economy “expanding moderately”
- Houston and Austin lead in job growth since the recession
- Companies More Upbeat on U.S. Economy
- National Economic Outlook Remains Positive but Cloudy
- Philly Fed State Coincident Indexes increased in March
If you missed the first two episodes of PBS’s presentation Money, Power and Wall Street, I highly recommend you take a couple of hours this weekend to view this insiders look at the Global Financial Crisis.
