Full text of U.S. Financial Data : April 5, 2001

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April 5, 2001

USFinancialData
THE WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS:
■ According to unofficial estimates, light vehicle sales (domestic
plus imported) totaled 17.1 million units at an annual rate in
March, down 1.4 percent from February and 3.4 percent from a
year earlier. From the fourth quarter of 2000 to the first quarter
of 2001, however, sales rose 6.1 percent to 17.2 million units.
■ Following a 0.7 percentage point rise in February, the National
Association of Purchasing Managers’ (NAPM) index of
manufacturing activity rose 1.2 percentage points in March to 43.1
percent. The manufacturing index has been below 50 percent for
eight consecutive months. The NAPM index of nonmanufacturing
activity, in contrast, fell 1.4 percentage points in March to 50.3
percent, after rising 1.6 percentage points in February. In general,
an index value above 50 percent indicates expanding activity.
■ In February, real total construction spending rose $2 billion, or
0.3 percent, the third gain in the past four months. Paced by a
2 percent increase in residential outlays, private construction
spending rose 0.9 percent in February. Public construction
spending, however, fell 1.8 percent.
■ Real personal consumption expenditures (PCE) rose 0.1 percent in
February, following an upward-revised 0.6 percent gain in January.
Outlays in January were originally estimated to have risen 0.2
percent. The PCE chain-type price index increased 0.2 percent, or
at a 2.9 percent annual rate, in February. The PCE price index is
up 2.3 percent from a year earlier.
All data are seasonally adjusted unless otherwise indicated.
U.S. Financial Data is published weekly by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of
St. Louis. For more information on data, please call (314) 444-8590. To be added to the mailing
list, please call (314) 444-8809.
Information in this publication is also included in the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) data base
on the internet at www.stls.frb.org/fred.