US DATA REACT: State Street says “March Empire State report fits
with the view that the US economy is strengthening, as 1Q-2010 comes to
a close. Our models are estimating +3.35% for 1Q-2010 real GDP growth
and for +4.0% for 2Q-2010 real GDP growth.
In ISM re-calculated terms, the Empire index strengthened to 57.08 in
March from 52.25 in February. The March reading is the HIGH of the
cycle, thus far.
The Empire region is more heavily invested in hi-tech sectors, and the
outcome is consistent with our estimate that production of hi-tech
equipment in 2010 will rise +30.0% y/y.”