New home sales surprised the experts. The Commerce Department said that new home sales were up by 13.8% for March, and last week used home sales were up as well. One economist says that the housing market still has a lot of room to maneuver and that a slump is more like a 'soft landing' for 2006. The 30-year mortgage is averaging 6.49% nationwide.

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The Labor Department noted that first time claims were down to 271,000, some of the lowest numbers since 2000. New housing starts fell 8.9% in December according to the Commerce Department and new building permits also dropped by 4.4%.

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Retailers, after reporting a better than expected January, are having the opposite effect for February. Cold blizzard-like conditions in the Midwest and eastern Atlantic states hurt same-store sales, although Wal-Mart showed a 2.9%+ gain. Retailers are looking forward to March with the Easter spending.

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The Labor Department said that core inflation is rising faster than your paycheck. Through the first three months of this year overall inflation is up by 4.3%, last year the rate was 3.4%. Energy prices are up by 21.8% compared with 17.1% last year; core inflation, excluding food and energy, is up by 2.8% and March was the largest increase in all categories.

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