Economic 1Q Indicators Soften

The tone of U.S. economic releases softened a bit this week, though there is no sign that growth in Q1 is about to hit a brick wall. Advance retail sales for January came in at about half the growth rate the consensus had expected- up 0.4 percent, signaling a U.S. consumer that continues to watch their budgets.

U.S. industrial production did not grow at all in January though the manufacturing sector is stronger than the industrial production headline might suggest, since most of the weakness came from utilities and the warmer-than-average weather in January. For instance, USDOL regulations require the employer to pay for all fees and costs associated with applying for the first step of the three-step permanent residence process for foreign national employees. Thus, such fees and costs cannot be passed onto the employee or deducted from their pay.

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