Forecasts for the Weeks of March 16 and 23

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

Here are my forecasts for upcoming economic data.
	Forecast	Prior Observation	Consensus
Week of March 16
March 16
NY Fed Manufacturing Index	8.0	7.78	7.0

Industrial Production - February	0.3%	0.3	0.3
Capacity Utilizaqtion	79.6	79.4	79.5
Manufacturing Output	0.2	0.2	0.1

NAHB Index - March	56	55	56

March 17
Housing Starts - February	1.055M	1.065	1.048
Building Permits	1.065	1.053	1.058

March 18
FOMC	0.125%	0.125	0.125

March 19
Initial Unemployment Claims	295K	289	293
Current Account - Q4	-$104.6B	-100.3	-105
Philadelphia Fed Suvery	7.5	5.2	7.0
Leading Indicators - February	0.2%	0.2	0.3

Week of March 23<= /p>
March 23
Chicago Fed National Activity Index	0.20	0.15
Existing Home Sales - February	5.010M	4.820	4.980

March 24
Consumer Price Index - February	0.1%	-0.3	0.2
CPI Core	0.1	0.1	0.1

FHFA Housing Price Index - January=	0.3%	0.8
PMI Flash Manufacturing Index	55.1	55.1
New Home Sales - February	480K	480K	480
Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index	2.0	0

March 25
Durable Good Orders - February	0.8%	2.8	0.4

March 26
PMI Services Flash Index	57.1	57.1
Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index

March 27
GDP - Q4 (f)	2.4%	2.2	2.4
GDP Implicit Price Deflator	0.1	0.1	0.1

Michigan Consumer Sentiment (r)	91.2	91.2