U.S., Canadian Economies Continue To Recover From COVID Recession
- The U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 6.4 percent in the first quarter of 2021, up from 4.3 percent in the previous quarter. It was the largest first-quarter growth rate since 1984. The improvement reflected increases in personal consumption expenditures, nonresidential fixed investment, federal government spending, residential fixed investment, and state and local government spending that were partly offset by decreases in private inventory investment and exports. Read more here.
- As Reuters reported, in its initial estimate for the first three months of 2021, Statistics Canada said the nation’s economy expanded 6.5 percent on an annualized basis in the first quarter. The economy grew 0.9 percent from February to March after expanding 0.4 percent from January 2021 to February 2021. Economists from Statistics Canada warned immediate future growth could slow, however, due to spikes in COVID-19 cases in the country.
- The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas said its manufacturing survey for the state of Texas rose to +37.3 in April, up eight points from March. The production index fell 14 points to +34.0, but that reading was still well above its average and indicative of robust output growth. The new orders index increased eight points to 38.5, and the growth rate of orders index climbed ten points to 32.3. Both readings were the highest in the survey’s 17-year history. Read the full report here.
- S. household incomes set a new record in March 2021. Personal incomes increased by 21.1 percent, the largest monthly increase since recording began in 1959. Disposable personal income rose by 23.6 percent. The improvement mainly reflected the federal government COVID-19 stimulus payments to individuals and families. Personal consumption expenditures, which drive roughly 70 percent of U.S. economic growth, rose 4.2 percent. Read the full report here.
- During the week that ended April 24, 553,000 individuals filed for federal unemployment benefits in the United States, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week’s level. The four-week moving average of first-time claims was 611,750, a decline of 44,000 from the previous week’s average. This figure was at its the lowest level since March 14, 2020 when it was 225,500.
- In other economic news: retail sales in Canada rose 4.8 percent to $55.1 billion in February, while core retail sales, which exclude sales from gas stations and motor-vehicle and parts dealers, increased 3.8 percent; the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index rose sharply in April, rising to 121.7 from 109.0 in March; and the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index increased to 88.3 in April from 84.9 in March.