Economic trends.

• Position: Table

Many people are paying more attention to economic trends than they did before the credit meltdown. Financing the Future News: Long-Term Financial Planning Resources, Notices, and Events--an electronic newsletter from the GFOA's Research and Consulting Center--provides its subscribers with a monthly summary of relevant statistics. Government Finance Review is reprinting excerpts of those statistics to help GFOA members keep track of the overall economic picture. (To be added to the mailing list for Financing the Future News, e-mail ltfp@gfoa.org.)

Inflation Indicator Result Source Consumer Price Unchanged in February Bureau of Index Labor Statistics Producer Price 0.6 percent decrease Bureau of index in February Labor Statistics Confidence Result Source Indictor Consumer Up to 52.5 in March Confidence Board Confidence from 46 in February Economic Growth Indictor Result Source Gross Domestic Q4 GDP grew at an Commerce Product (GDP) annualized 5.9 Department percent rate Canadian GDP Expanded at annual Statistics Canada rate of 5 percent in Q4 NABE Forecast National Association of Business Economics (NABE) forecast 3.1 percent GDP growth this year, and decline of the unemployment rate to 9.6 percent in December Capacity Up 0.1 percent in Federal Utilization February following Reserve a gain of 0.9 percent in January Housing & Real Estate Indictor Result Source Foreclosure Declined 2 percent in Realty Trac Activity February from January Congressional $1.4 trillion in commercial real estate Oversight Panel loans will need refinancing in the next Special Report four years, and more than half of those on Commercial loans are underwater Losses, which could reach $300 billion, threaten the solvency of 2,988 banks, most of which have less than...