Economic indicators

The Conference Board's Employment Trends Index (ETI) rose to 107.72 in March from a downwardly revised 107.31 in February.

Consumer credit increased by $10.6 billion in February to $3.868 trillion, the Federal Reserve reported Friday.

Nonfarm payrolls saw a much softer than expected gain of 103,000 in March versus the 195,000 expected.

Initial jobless claims rose by 24,000 to 242,000 in the March 31 week, well above the 225,000 level expected.

The U.S. international trade gap widened to $57.6 billion in February, a wider gap than the $56.7 billion deficit expected and the largest since October 2008.

About 4,819,700 online job postings appeared on leading internet job boards in March, an increase of 102,100 from February, the Conference Board reported Wednesday.

The value of new factory orders in February saw a 1.2% increase, a softer rise than the 1.7% increase expected.

The U.S. services sector expanded at a slower pace in March, while prices again grew.

Private-sector employment increased by 241,000 in March, on a seasonally adjusted basis, ADP estimated Wednesday.

The New York economy continues to expand at a slower pace, while prices continued creeping higher.

Construction spending saw a 0.1% increase in February, below expectations for a 0.5% gain, due to public construction falling 2.1%.

The overall economy grew for the 107th straight time, the Institute for Supply Management reported Monday.

The University of Michigan's final March consumer sentiment index reading was 101.4, compared to the preliminary March 102.0, and the final February 99.7, according to market sources.

The MNI Chicago Business Barometer followed up declines in both January and February with a hefty 4.5 drop in March, ending the first quarter of 2018 at 57.4.

Consumer spending rose 0.2% in February while personal income gained 0.4%, the Commerce Department said.

Initial jobless claims fell to the lowest level since January 1973.

Pending home sales gained 3.1% to an index reading of 107.5 in February, from a downwardly revised 5.0% decline to 104.3 in January.

The price measures were generally unrevised, so the market reaction to the upward revision to fourth quarter growth is likely to be muted.

Texas service sector activity “activity picked up in March,” according to business executives responding to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey, as the revenue index increased to 19.3 from 13.2.

The consumer confidence index decreased to 127.7 in March from a revised 130.0 last month, The Conference Board reported Tuesday.