Economy.com Daily Update: March 17, 2020

Today's Economy

The 10-year Treasury yield jumped to 1.09%.

Economic relief is on its way amid a nationwide COVID-19 lockdown.

Only Iran reported as many cases in the first four days of the coronavirus outbreak.

The ZEW cratered in March, but investors seem confident the shock is temporary.

Commentary

Risk has grown as the global economy works through the slowdown caused by the trade war, geopolitical uncertainties, and COVID-19.

The U.S. is only just starting to feel the economic fallout of COVID-19.

Fiscal and monetary responses will be essential in easing the worst of the negative economic effects.

Vietnam’s economy is threatened, but its record expansion will remain intact.

Today's Economic Indicators

United Kingdom
Unemployment
Jan. 2020: 3.9%
U.K. joblessness rose to 3.9% in the January quarter from 3.8% in the previous stanza, worse than expectations for a steady reading.

Canada
International Transactions in Securities
Jan. 2020: C$17.0 bil
In a sharp reversal from the prior month, foreign portfolio investment flooded into Canadian assets and Canadian investors sold off their foreign securities.

Canada
Survey of Manufacturing
Jan. 2020: -0.2%
Manufacturing extended its recent lackluster performance into January.

United States
Retail Sales
Feb. 2020: -0.5%
Retail sales unexpectedly dropped in February, with broad-based weakness.

United States
Industrial Production
Feb. 2020: 0.6%
U.S. industrial production increased 0.6% in February, a touch better than our forecast for a 0.5% gain.

Russian Federation
Industrial Production
Feb. 2020: 3.3%
Russian industrial production is making up for lost ground.

United States
Monthly GDP
Jan. 2020: 0.2%
The U.S. economy did reasonably well in January, before the COVID-19 pandemic caused significant disruptions to global supply chains and the U.S. economy.

United States
State and Local Government Tax Revenue
2019Q4: 5.7%
Fourth-quarter state tax collections rose by 5.7% from a year earlier.

United States
Business Inventories (MTIS)
Jan. 2020: -0.1%
The inventory build stumbled in January, with business stockpiles contracting 0.1% over the month.

United States
Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey
Jan. 2020: 4.4% openings rate
The January JOLTS report shows that the labor market has been in very good shape—a much better situation to be in now that the COVID-19 response is upending the economy than if it had been fragile at the start of the year.

United States
NAHB Housing Market Index
Mar. 2020: 72
Homebuilder confidence slipped 2 points to 72 in March.

United States
Moody’s Analytics Policy Uncertainty Index
March 13: 145.1
The four-week moving average in our U.S. policy uncertainty index increased from 140 to 145.1 in the week ended March 13.

Japan
Foreign Trade
Feb. 2020: