What’s good in residential real estate is usually good for commercial real estate (eventually), and the best thing that can happen on the residential side these days are higher sales that don’t feed another bubble.

In March, overall U.S. employment growth wasn’t as robust as expected, and the latest employment stats from the states and D.C.—which are also March numbers—reflect a similar slowdown, though not a job market that’s coming to a sudden halt.

This month’s CFNAI-MA3 is more evidence for the widely held notion that the economy slowed down during the first quarter and might not be speeding up now.

The rest of the nation should hope that California isn’t going to be a bellwether when it comes to a dire water shortage, but with the long-term prospect of a warmer and drier climate worldwide, it might be a good idea to at least pay attention to what’s going on in California as it tries to deal with its drought.

Ahead of the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington this weekend, the IMF released its World Economic Outlook and the Global Financial Stability Report.

The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book might be anecdotal in nature, but they are high-quality anecdotes.