Construction Spending increased 0.4% in April

WASHINGTON — Spending on U.S. construction projects rebounded in February, helped by a surge in home construction, which rose to the highest level in more than four years. Construction spending rose 1.2 percent overall in February compared to January, when construction had dropped 2.1 percent, the Commerce Department reported Monday. Spending rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $885.1 billion, which was 7.9 percent higher than a year ago.

WASHINGTON — U.S. job growth grew modestly in January and gains in the prior two months were bigger than initially reported, supporting views the economy’s sluggish recovery was on track despite a surprise contraction in output in the final three months of 2012. Employers added 157,000 jobs to their payrolls last month, the Labor Department said on Friday. There were 127,000 more jobs created in November and December than previously reported. The unemployment rate, however, edged up 0.1 percentage point to 7.9%.

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) will release their April survey on Tuesday, June 14th. Here is a pre-release of the employment results from NFIB: NFIB Jobs Statement: On Main Street, Job Creation is Collapsing“After solid job gains early in the year, progress has slowed to a trickle ... meaningful job creation on Main Street has collapsed....

DETROIT — Chrysler Group said its vehicle sales in March were the best since December 2007, and estimated the industry’s annual sales rate last month was 15.6 million. Chrysler, a unit of Italian automaker Fiat SpA, said March sales totaled 171,606 vehicles, up 5% from 163,381 a year earlier. The Fiat, Dodge and Ram Truck brands all posted increases.

• From the Chicago Business Barometer™ Dropped: The overall index decreased to 56.6 from 67.6 in April. This was below consensus expectations of 62.3. Note: any number above 50 shows expansion. "Breadth of EMPLOYMENT expansion softened but remained strong." The employment index decreased to a still strong 60.8 from 63.7. The new orders index decreased to 53.5 from 66.3.• From the Dallas Fed: Texas Manufacturing Activity Expands

The Commerce Department reported Wednesday morning that construction spending dropped 1.0 percent percent in July. “The U.S. construction spending during July 2010 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $805.2 billion, 1.0 percent below the revised June estimate of $813.1 billion.