US Data: Highlights of Market Survey of Economic Forecasts

     WASHINGTON (MNI)  - The following are highlights of forecasts for upcoming

U.S. economic indicators provided by Bloomberg forecasts. The comment section

presents the key elements behind the median forecasts.

Producer Price Index for January (percent change) 

 Thursday, March 12 at 8:30 a.m. ET                       Actual:

                  Median:                               Feb20  Jan20  Dec19    

PPI                -0.1%                                   --  +0.5%  +0.2%    

Core PPI           +0.1%                                   --  +0.5%  +0.1%    

Core PPI ex trade  +0.1%                                   --  +0.4%  +0.2%    

     Comments: Month-over-month final demand PPI is expected to shrink by -0.1%

while core PPI and core PPI excluding trade are both expected to increase by

+0.1%.

Initial Jobless Claims (thousands)

 Thursday, March 12 at 8:30 a.m. EST                        

                                                           Actual:

                   Median                          March07  Feb29  Feb22        

Claims               220k                               --   216k   219k        

Comments: Jobless claims for the week ending March 7 are expected to come in at

220,000, above the 213k four-week moving average identified by the Department of

Labor in its most recent jobless claims report.

Import/Export Prices for January(percent change)

 Friday, March 13 at 8:30 a.m. ET                         Actual:

                    Median:                         Feb20  Jan20  Dec19      

Import Price Index   -1.0%                             --   flat  +0.2%    

Export Price Index   -0.4%                             --  +0.7%  -0.2%  

Comments: The import price index is expected to decrease -1.0%, while the export

price index is expected to fall by -0.4%.

University of Michigan Survey for March (preliminary)

 Friday, March 13 at 10:00 a.m. ET                            Actual:

                          Median:                      March20(p) Feb20  Jan20  

Consumer Sent               95.0                            --    101.0   96.3 

Comments: The Michigan sentiment index is expected to reach 95.0, a 6.0 point

drop from February's 101.0 reading. The index faces downside risks from growing

fears of the coronavirus outbreak. The last two days of February's index sample

(Feb 24 and 25) showed that 20% of respondents mentioned Covid-19 in light of

the tumble in equity prices and announcements by the CDC about the domestic

spread of the disease, according to Nomura Global Economics.

--MNI Washington Bureau; +1 202 371 2121; email: ryan.hauser@marketnews.com

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