By MARTIN CRUTSINGER
AP Economics Writer | Tuesday, March 17, 2009 |
WASHINGTON | Housing construction posted a surprisingly large increase in February, bolstered by strength in all parts of the country except the West.
The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that construction of new homes and apartments jumped 22.2 percent in February compared with January, pushing total activity to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 583,000 units.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department reported that wholesale prices edged up a slight 0.1 percent in February as a big drop in food costs offset a second monthly increase in energy prices.
While the surge in housing construction was far better than the continued decline economists had expected, the rebound is likely to be viewed as a temporary gain given all the problems the housing industry still faces.
Even with the big increase, construction activity remains 47.3 percent below where it was a year ago. The strength in February was led by a big increase in apartment construction, which can be highly volatile from month to month.
All areas of the country reported an increase in February, except the West, which has been hardest hit by the current housing slump.
The 0.1 percent increase in wholesale inflation was much lower than the 0.8 percent surge in January and smaller than the 0.4 percent increase economists had expected. Compared with a year ago, wholesale prices are actually down 1.3 percent.
Core inflation, which excludes energy and food, edged up 0.2 percent in February, only slightly higher than the 0.1 percent gain economists had expected. Core prices had risen 0.4 percent in January.
Only last summer, officials at the Federal Reserve had started to worry that a surge in energy costs could spread to other areas of the economy and boost inflation to unacceptable levels. But after the financial crisis struck in the fall, the Fed switched signals and is now aggressively fighting a deepening recession with no real threat of inflation.
On Wednesday, Fed officials are expected to signal that they will continue to keep a key interest rate at a record low near zero percent for as long as necessary and use other unorthodox means to jump-start the economy.
The Fed has the leeway to focus on the weak economy because inflation pressures are expected to remain law in the face of widespread layoffs that are depressing wage demands.
The 0.1 percent rise in wholesale inflation in February reflected a 1.3 percent increase in energy prices, which have been rising for two months after having retreated for five straight months.
Gasoline prices jumped 8.7 percent in February after a 15 percent surge in January.
Food costs fell for a third straight month, dropping 1.6 percent in February, the biggest one-month decline in three years. The costs of eggs, fruits, vegetables and dairy products were all down.
Outside of food and energy, prices for cigarettes rose 2.7 percent, the biggest increase in two years, while the price of light trucks rose 1.3 percent, a gain that is not expected to last given the weakness in auto sales.
Prices for computers dropped 4.5 percent, the biggest one-month fall since January 2005.
Inflation is not expected be a problem for some time to come given the prolonged recession, which is already the longest downturn in a quarter-century. Overall economic growth fell at an annual rate of 6.2 percent in the October-December quarter and many economists expect the drop in the gross domestic product for the current quarter will be a similarly steep decline.
Many economists say the Fed will not even contemplate interest rate increases until the unemployment rate, which soared to a 25-year high of 8.1 percent in February, declines.
For more on this story: http://nwitimes.com/articles/2009/03/17/updates/breaking_news/doc49bfa633ebc1b443686335.txt
Gina Bombin, Your Hometown Agent in Wheatfield, Indiana
McColly Real Estate
So as you may know, and if you don’t you must be hiding in a cave, there is a big push for Hoosiers to Go Green! Well Indiana, when you look at it you can really be putting some Green in your pocket while helping to reduce waste and carbine omission at the same time here in Indiana. Like with any new process take baby steps and you will find that you can find many ways to Go Green and Save the Green and they are really not that life changing.
Scale back on water uses. On the outside, stop watering your grass every morning, noon and night, do it every other day. Your grass will still look good, you will reduce Indiana water usage and the amount of water into our storm drains in Indiana and your water bill will go down. Use the new grass seeds that conserves water. On the inside, cut your shower time in half. Run the dishwasher when full or fill up the sink with water when washing by hand. In places in Indiana where wells are used, yes your water is free, but it is still coming from the earth, and your well pump runs when you are using the water, so it will help cut down on electricity and salt usage.
Scale back on the gas. Commute with others in Indiana to work, take public transportation, find an alternative route to work, like walking, riding a bike, getting a scooter. When running errands, do them all in one day, make a trip map and go to several places in one day, this will free up time later in the week, it will cut down on your gas usage and cut down on pollution in Indiana.
Cut back on the plastics. Plastics are produced using oil, the same oil that we use to make gas. If we slow down on buying bottled water that will give us more oil to use in our cars here in Indiana. Use a Brita filter on your sink in or a filter in your refrigerator to have filtered water. It is what the water here in Indiana companies do anyway. This will reduce less waste in the land fills in Indiana. If taking it on the go use a travel mug.
Change your light bulbs to the new CFL bulbs when old ones burn out. They use way less energy and last longer, so you are replacing less. Home Depot has The Top 5 reason why we should use these bulbs on their website.
Replace worn weather striping on your doors. Caulk around cracks and openings. Fill larger cracks with spray foam. This will reduce the cold air from coming in and warm air going out.
Can lights or recessed lighting is very nice and extremely popular here in Indiana, but there are certain areas of a home they shouldn’t be used. If you have a one story home you shouldn’t use can lights. They can’t be insulated. If you have a two story they are ok on the first floor, but not on the second floor. Menards had an example on how to convert to a regular light fixture from a can light in one of their weekly fliers here in Indiana.
Recycle, Reduce, Reuse! In some cases recycling can put money in your pocket. I know my son saves pop cans and not only at home but at my office he has everyone on board to save the cans there as well and he then scraps them. For him it is a little bit of money. You can do it with newspapers as well, tires, it is amazing what you can scrap and make a little cash here in Indiana. Don’t just put it out at the curb. Donate old clothes and home goods you don’t want anymore to a local charity we have plenty in Indiana looking for donations. Reuse your paper and plastic grocery bags as garbage or recycling bags.
There are many other ways you can Go Green and Save Green Indiana. This is going to help the environment here in Indiana, but at the same time help you save money which right now we are all trying to find ways to put a little extra Green in our pockets.
Gina Bombin, Helping Indiana Go Green
With the recent Credit Crunch causing widespread worries and Christmas shopping just around the corner, now is a great time to discuss things that we do to hurt our credit scores.
Keep in mind that very good credit is a necessity these days, where just a year ago, average credit was acceptable. As you read this, remember that your credit score dictates your ability to get a mortgage loan, the interest rate on your mortgage and auto loans, your credit card interest rates and even the amount you pay for insurance.
Let’s start with the simple and most obvious things that we do to hurt our credit….
Visit the Northwest Indiana Loan Guy’s site for the rest of the story
Scott Swinford, your Northwest Indiana Loan Guy, is a Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist and a local credit expert. To email Scott, click here.
Credit Problems? Not a Problem for us! Check out our Credit Restoration site and get $300 in gasoline FREE just for registering!
Gina Bombin, Wheatfield, Hebron, & Crown Point, Indiana Real Estate Agent
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