Last Week in the News

On Monday, March 23, the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales rose 5.1% in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.72 million, from 4.49 million in January. Economists had expected an annualized rate of 4.45 million homes.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage applications for the week ending March 20 increased 32% to 1,159.4 from 876.9 the previous week. Purchase volume rose 4.2% to 267.8 from 257.1 the previous week, while refinancing applications jumped 42% to 6,363.2 from 4,497.6.

The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that orders for durable goods, items expected to last three or more years, jumped 3.4% in February. It was the strongest one-month gain in 14 months and the report breaks a record six consecutive months of decline. Economists had anticipated orders for durable goods to fall 2%. Among the areas of strong growth were orders for heavy machinery, up 13.5%, and demand for computers, up 10.1%.

New home sales unexpectedly rose 4.7% in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 337,000 units, according to a report by the Commerce Department. Analysts had expected a drop to 300,000 units in February. Also, the results for January were revised upward to 322,000. Nevertheless, that figure represents the slowest monthly pace since recordkeeping began in 1963.

On Thursday, the Commerce Department announced its final revision to the fourth quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It showed the U.S. economy decreased at an annual rate of 6.3% in the fourth quarter of 2008. It was the lowest pace since the first quarter of 1982, when output contracted 6.4%. For all of 2008, the economy grew 1.1%.

Upcoming on the economic calendar are reports on consumer confidence on March 31, pending home sales on April 1 and factory orders on April 2.