Forecasts for the Weeks of March 23 and 30

Here are my forecasts for upcoming economic data.
	Forecast	Prior Observation	Consensus
Week of March 23
March 23
Chicago Fed National Activity Index	0.15	0.13	0.15
Existing Home Sales - February	5.010M	4.820	4.940

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=	0.5%	0.8	0.5
PMI Flash Manufacturing Index	55.1	55.1	54.7
New Home Sales - February	470K	480K	462
Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index	1.5	0	2

March 25
Durable Good Orders - February	0.8%	2.8	0.7

March 26
Initial Unemployment Claims	300K	291	293
PMI Services Flash Index	57.1	57.1	57.0
Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index	-0.5	1	0.00

March 27
GDP - Q4 (f)	2.3%	2.2	=A0
GDP Implicit Price Deflator	0.1	0.1	0.1

Michigan Consumer Sentiment (r)	92.2	91.2	92

Week of March 30<= /p>
March 30
Personal Income - February	0.3%	0.3	0.3
Personal Spending	0.3	-0.2	0.2

Pending Home Sales Index - March	104.3	104.2
Dallas Fed Manufacturing Index	-5.6	-11.2

March 31
Twenty City M/M	0.0%	0.1
Twenty City M/M - SA	0.8	0.9
Twenty City Y/Y	4.6	4.5	4.6

Chicago PMI - March	52.5	45.8	51.0
Consumer Confidence Index - March<= /p>	96.4	96.4	96.0

April 1
ADP Employment Report - March	230K	212	240

ISM (Mfg) - March	53.0	52.9	52.5
ISM Prices	35.0	35.0

Construction Spending - February	0.5%	-1.1

Auto Sales* - March	16.46M	16.23	16.7
Car Sales	7.33	7.23
Truck Sales	9.01	9.01
*SAAR, as published by Motor Intelligence

April 2
International Trade - February	-$42.8B	-41.8	-41.2

April 3
Nonfarm Payrolls - March	250K	295	248
Private	240	288	240
Manufacturing	11	8	13
Unemployment	5.5%	5.5	5.5
Average Workweek	34.6Hr	34.6	34.6
Average Hourly Earnings	0.2%	0.1	0.2

ISM Services - March	56.9	56.9	56.6
ISM Prices	49.7	49.7
ISM Business Activity	59.4	59.4

Peter Morici is a professor at the University of Maryland Smith School of Business, former Chief Economist a= t the U.S. International Trade Commission, and five-time winner of the MarketWatch best forecaster award.