Economy/Ecommerce

The U.S. economy created only 88,000 jobs in March, which was a drop from February.

Apartment vacancies nationwide continued to shrink in the first quarter of 2013, according to a report by Reis Inc.

Fannie Mae, practically given up for dead during the abyss of the Great Recession, showed signs of life in 2012.

The Census Bureau reported on Monday that U.S. construction spending increased 1.2 percent in February compared with January, coming in at an annualized rate of $885.1 billion for the month. That’s 7.9 percent more than during February 2012.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday that in February, month-over-month, 22 states had unemployment rate decreases, 12 states experienced increases and 16 states and the District of Columbia saw no change.

The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices said that average home prices were up 7.3 percent for the 10-city composite and 8.1 percent for the 20-city composite in the 12 months ending in January 2013.

In the broad uptick, the Federal Reserve of Chicago reported that its National Activity Index (CFNAI) increased to +0.44 in February, from 0.49 in January.

Over the weekend, the Cypriot parliament worked on a plan to confiscate a percentage of deposits over 100,000 euros in the most troubled of the country’s banks to raise the money demanded by lenders, so that the 10 billion-euro bailout may proceed.