Weekly Economic & Financial Commentary

Is That Spring in the Air?

· Retail sales rebounded after two straight months of declines,providing much-needed optimism to a dreary winter of economic data.

· Several indications of a skills mismatch in the labor market have come up, with construction proving particularly problematic.

· The FOMC meets next week and is expected to reduce its monthly asset purchases by another $10 billion.

Foreign Growth Remains Generally Slow in Q1-2014

· Real GDP growth in the British economy looks to have remained fairly solid in the first quarter. The current recovery in the Eurozone also looks to have remained intact, but the pace of growth on the continent appears to be slower than on the western side of the English Channel.

· Chinese industrial production in the first two months of the year grew at its slowest pace since the global economy was pulling out of recession in 2009. Economic growth in Brazil, the largest economy in Latin America, also looks to have remained rather slow in the first quarter.