We're expecting housing to be flat in the second quarter and a drag on economic growth in the third quarter and fourth quarter.
This good news supports the view of continued economic and employment gains with limited upside risk of rising interest rates.
This is really the first post-NAFTA, post-WTO economic recovery we've ever had in this country. Because of the globalization of the labor market, the relationship between economic growth and employment is different this time than it has been in the past.
Consumer sentiment numbers are not reflecting economic sentiment, but political or social sentiment. If you were generating an economic forecast of spending from these numbers, you'd be totally wrong.
The economic recovery has legs -- those of a pony, not yet a quarter horse.