OPINION

Forecasts for the Weeks of March 16 and 23

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

Here are my forecasts for upcoming economic data.





Forecast

Prior Observation

Consensus


Week of March 16





March 16





NY Fed Manufacturing Index

8.0

7.78

7.0







Industrial Production - February

0.3%

0.3

0.3


Capacity Utilizaqtion

79.6

79.4

79.5


Manufacturing Output

0.2

0.2

0.1







NAHB Index - March

56

55

56







March 17





Housing Starts - February

1.055M

1.065

1.048


Building Permits

1.065

1.053

1.058







March 18





FOMC

0.125%

0.125

0.125







March 19





Initial Unemployment Claims

295K

289

293


Current Account - Q4

-$104.6B

-100.3

-105


Philadelphia Fed Suvery

7.5

5.2

7.0


Leading Indicators - February

0.2%

0.2

0.3







Week of March 23<= /p>





March 23





Chicago Fed National Activity Index

0.20

0.15



Existing Home Sales - February

5.010M

4.820

4.980







March 24





Consumer Price Index - February

0.1%

-0.3

0.2


CPI Core

0.1

0.1

0.1







FHFA Housing Price Index - January=

0.3%

0.8



PMI Flash Manufacturing Index

55.1

55.1



New Home Sales - February

480K

480K

480


Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index

2.0

0








March 25





Durable Good Orders - February

0.8%

2.8

0.4







March 26





PMI Services Flash Index

57.1

57.1



Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index










March 27





GDP - Q4 (f)

2.4%

2.2

2.4


GDP Implicit Price Deflator

0.1

0.1

0.1







Michigan Consumer Sentiment (r)

91.2

91.2