Posted on 02/19/2014 10:44:11 AM PST by 1rudeboy
(Reuters) - U.S. homebuilder confidence suffered its largest one-month drop ever in February, heightening concerns that recent signs of weakness in the economy reflect deeper problems than the severe weather that has gripped much of the country.
The National Association of Home Builders said on Tuesday its Housing Market Index plunged by 10 points to 46 in February, with a majority of builders seeing market conditions as poor.
The NAHB, which produces the index together with U.S. bank Wells Fargo, said cold temperatures kept potential home buyers out of the market across much of the country.
But the trade group said high costs were also holding back the housing industry, and the data adds to worries the U.S. economy might actually be losing momentum following a year of break-out growth.
Poor weather usually drags on growth only temporarily as businesses and consumers put off purchases. If the recent slowdown in the economy is weather related, economists expect that the trend will reverse once temperatures turn higher and spur consumers to get back to spending.
"This report will keep alive concerns in the markets that the weakening in the data recently is not just due to weather," said Jim O'Sullivan, an economist at High Frequency Economics in Valhalla, New York.
Worries over the outlook for the economy have grown since reports showed weak hiring across the economy in December and January, when much of the country experienced unusually frigid temperatures.
Now signs of economic weakness are persisting into February.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
bttt
Hasn’t February been unusually cold and snowy as well?
The USSR used the “weather theory” for about seventy years to explain why most of its population lived in third-world conditions.
You don’t need a Weatherman to know that the economy blows...
That "break-out growth" is just unacknowledged inflation.
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