In the past week, many Americans remained laser focused on the economy, inflation and how those forces could impact their lives. Hitting close to home were high grocery and gas prices, escalating housing costs and job cuts.
Here’s a snapshot of some of the latest economic data and news and what it potentially means for you.
March retail sales rise on spike in gas prices
Americans accelerated their spending in March compared with the previous month, but a growing proportion of that money for millions was spent at the gas pump.
A spike in gas prices due to the Iran war, now in its eighth week, resulted in a hefty 1.7% gain in retail sales in March after a revised 0.7% increase in February, according to a Commerce Department report Tuesday. It was the fastest one-month increase in retail sales in more than three years.
The report marks the first read on spending to capture the effects of the Iran war.
Excluding gas prices, retail sales rose 0.6%, helped in part by government tax refunds and warm weather.
Business at gas stations rose 15.5%.
Trump’s approval rating on economy slumped over past month, poll finds
President Donald Trump’s approval rating on the economy has slumped over the past month as the Iran war drives prices higher, according to a new AP-NORC poll, and Republicans seem to have less faith in his leadership as well.
The findings from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research show a president who is struggling with unfulfilled promises to tame inflation and testing Americans’ patience with a war in the Middle East that has no defined ending.
Trump’s approval rating on the economy dropped to 30% in April from 38% in a March AP-NORC poll. A similarly low share of U.S. adults, 32%, approve of the president’s leadership on Iran, which is unchanged since last month.
Average US long-term mortgage rate slips
The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate dropped for the third consecutive week, easing borrowing costs for prospective homebuyers as the spring homebuying season rolls on.
The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate fell to 6.23% from 6.3% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the rate averaged 6.81%.
The average rate is now at its lowest level since March 19, when it was 6.22%.
US unemployment claims rise modestly
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits inched up last week but remains within the historically healthy range of recent years.
U.S. jobless aid applications for the week ending April 18 rose by 6,000 to 214,000, up from the previous week’s 208,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s slightly more than the 210,000 new applications analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet were expecting.
Filings for unemployment benefits are considered a proxy for U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.
Markets mostly mixed as Norfolk Southern’s first-quarter profit fell
The markets ended the week mostly mixed with major railroads reporting a strong start to the year.
CSX profits jumped 25% as the railroad hauled 3% more shipments, Union Pacific profits rose 5%, and Norfolk Southern would have topped Wall Street projections, but it didn’t collect big insurance payments related to the East Palestine, Ohio, derailment, and its planned merger with Union Pacific added to its costs.
Optimism has been building in the financial markets that the United States and Iran can find a way to avoid a worst-case scenario for the global economy because of the war launched by the U.S. and Israel.
But U.S. crude prices jumped 14% in a shaky cease fire with Iran firing on several ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
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