U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Rise in Line With Expectations

Initial claims for unemployment benefits in the U.S. rose in the week of April 18, while continuing claims surged to a new all-time high, the U.S. Department of Labor reported. Initial claims rose to 640k, as expected, following an upward revision of the previous week's claims to 613k from 610k. The four-week moving average for initial claims eased to 646,750 from 651,000 in the week prior.

Meanwhile, continuing claims rose to a new high of 6.137 million in the reference week April 11, a larger number than the consensus forecast of 6.120 million. The previous week's level of 6.022 million, the former all-time high, was revised up to 6.044 million.

"Because claims have always been a good indicator of the end of a recession, further declines in the four-week [average] of claims would show that our forecast for a resumption of economic growth in 3Q09 is reasonable," wrote Abiel Reinhart of JPMorgan Chase, though he cautioned that the drop in the average could partially be attributable to the Good Friday holiday.

U.S. Existing Home Sales Drop Beyond Expectations

U.S. existing home sales contracted 3.0% in March against expectations for a 1.5% decline, and following a downwardly revised 4.9% gain in February, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Sales of single-family homes dropped 2.8% following a 4.2% increase in February, while sales of condos and other multiple-family units fell 4.1% against an 11.4% increase the month prior.

U.S. Weekly Natural Gas Inventories Rise 46 Bcf

Underground U.S. natural gas storage climbed 46 billion cubic feet in the week ending April 17 and supplies remain at above-average levels. The consensus estimate was for an increase of 45 bcf. Analyst estimates ranged from +29 bcf to +52 bcf, according to Bloomberg's survey.

It was the largest supply build since the week ending Nov. 7, 2008. Last week, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a +21 bcf change in underground supplies.

BOC Unveils Loose Framework for QE, but No Commitment to Use It

The Bank of Canada unveiled loose frameworks for quantitative and credit easing on Thursday, but made no firm commitment to use those tools.

"The framework sets out the instruments that the Bank would consider using, if required, to achieve its inflation objective," the central bank said in a press release. "These instruments are: conditional statements about the future path of policy rates; quantitative easing; and credit easing."

The report offered few concrete details, and instead leaves the door open for the central bank to determine both the size and type of assets, which it could purchase by expanding the balance sheet. Any announcement to use the facilities would be announced at upcoming rate decisions, the BOC said.

Speaking after the release of the MPR, the BOC governor said the need for extraordinary easing is a "big if."

Canadian Retail Sales Surprise to the Upside for Second Straight Month

Canadian retail sales came in better than forecast in February for the second month in a row, Statistics Canada reported, with retail sales excluding autos rising 0.6% compared to the previous month. Economists had been expecting a 0.2% rise, following the 1.4% expansion in January, which was revised up from +1.3%.

Headline retail sales including autos rose 0.2% in the month to C$33.7 billion, against expectations for a 0.3% drop and following the 1.8% rise in the previous month, which was initially reported as a 1.9% increase.

Belgian Business Sentiment Rebounds Slightly in April

Belgian business sentiment rebounded modestly in April, due to decreased pessimism in the manufacturing industry and business-related services, the National Bank of Belgium said.

"The smoothed overall synthetic curve, which reflects the underlying trend in the economy with a two-month delay, continues to fall, albeit at a slower rhythm," the central bank said.

The central bank noted that its business confidence indicator rose to -29.4 in April after falling to -31.8 in the previous month.

By Stephen Huebl, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it , with contributions from Megan Ainscow, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it , Erik Kevin Franco, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it and Adam Button, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it , edited by Sarah Sussman, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

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