Despite threats from the federal budget sequester, the nation's economy expanded ""at a moderate pace"" from late February to early April, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday in its periodic ""Beige Book. Activity in five Federal Reserve Districts--Cleveland, Richmond, St. Louis, Minneapolis, and Kansas City--was described as growing at a moderate pace, while in five other districts-- Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, and San Francisco--growth was notched slightly slower as ""modest.""

Led by a surge in multifamily building, housing starts jumped 7.0 percent in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,036,000, the highest level since June 2008 while housing starts dropped 3.9 percent to 902,000, the lowest level since November, the Census Bureau and HUD reported jointly Tuesday. In February, multifamily activity represented 60 percent of the increase in permits, while in March, all of the multifamily units accounted for all of the increase in starts as single-family starts fell.

With the price of a new home barely above year-ago levels, builder confidence fell for the third straight month in April, dropping two points to 42, the lowest level since October, the National Association of Home Builders reported. Economists had expected the Housing Market Index (HMI), the measure of confidence, to improve to 45 from March's reading of 44. It was the second straight month the index fell when economists had expected it to improve.

A compromise, certainly in politics, is usually a result which both sides in a dispute find equally unsatisfactory. It usually comes after some protracted negotiations from extreme positions. In the budget unveiled this week, President Obama, as he has in so many policy initiatives, attempted to reshape the political lexicon and landscape by beginning a compromise, not from an extreme, but from the middle. There is a lot for both sides to dislike in the Obama budget plan and there will be more as the document is scoured by both sides. The devil is always in the details.

After spiking one week ago, first-time claims for unemployment insurance fell sharply to 346,000 for the week ending April 6, a drop of 42,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected claims to fall to 365,000. Initial jobless claims for the week ending March 30 were revised up to 388,000 from the originally reported 385,000, increasing an unexpected 31,000 from one week earlier.

Job openings in February rose to 3,925,000, the highest level since May 2008, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Tuesday in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). The number of persons unemployed for each job opening fell to 3.07, the lowest level since October 2008.

The March employment situation report was another in a series of labor reports that had analysts scratching their heads--on the left or right side--depending on their politics. Just as there is no Democratic or Republican way to collect garbage (okay, there might be depending on how much government you want), there should be no Democratic or Republican economic data. The numbers are what they are, not what your political lens tells you they are. That said, when data such as the March report are released--weak job growth, yet a drop in the unemployment rate--conspiracy theorists emerge from the woodwork.

The economy added 88,000 jobs in March--the weakest showing since last June--but the unemployment rate dropped to 7.6.percent, its lowest level since December 2008, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday. Economists had forecast payrolls would grow by 200,000, and that the unemployment rate would remain at 7.7 percent.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance jumped an unexpected 28,000 to 385,000--the highest level since November--for the week ending March 30, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected claims to rise to 350,000. Initial jobless claims for the week ending March 23 were unchanged at 357,000.

The explanation from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) for the drop in the Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) for February has to be viewed with a jaundiced eye. According to the NAR, the PHSI dropped because of the low inventory of homes for sale. Of course, that wasn't offered as an explanation one month earlier, when the inventory of homes for sale dropped to its lowest level since December 1999 and the PHSI increased. But when the PHSI fell in February, and the inventory of homes for sale increased, the still-low inventory became a convenient excuse.