March New Orders Jump
New orders for manufactured goods in March, up following two consecutive monthly decreases, increased $5.9 billion or 1.4 percent to $432.3 billion, the United States Census Bureau reported Friday. This followed a 0.9 percent February decrease. Shipments, up two of the last three months, increased $4.9 billion or 1.1 percent to $428.7 billion. This followed a 1.9 percent February decrease. Unfilled orders, up thirty-four of the last thirty-five months, increased $8.9 billion or 1.1 percent to $832.3 billion. This was at the highest since the series was first stated on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 1.0 percent February increase.

Disposable Income Up Slightly
Personal income increased 0.3 percent, and disposable personal income (DPI) increased 0.3 percent, in March, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased 0.4 percent. In February, personal income increased 0.5 percent, DPI increased 0.5 percent and PCE increased 0.1 percent, based on new estimates.

Stimulus Rebates Good for Small Bump
The economic stimulus rebates are "likely to make economic growth two percentage points higher than it would otherwise have been in the second and third quarters," Macroeconomic Advisers, a St. Louis forecasting firm, tells The Wall Street Journal. "Other analysts say the effect will be smaller."

Commodity Prices Fall
Prices for crude oil slid more than $3 a barrel and silver dropped almost 3 percent last Tuesday, according to Bloomberg News. The weighted UBS Bloomberg Constant Maturity Commodity Index fell 2.5 percent on Thursday. A settlement at that level would mark the biggest drop since March 19. On Friday, though, U.S. light crude oil for June delivery regained $3.05 to $115.57 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. This rebound followed on news of Boliva's nationalizing three energy companies.

GDP Grows 0.6 Percent in Q1
Real gross domestic product increased at an annual rate of 0.6 percent in the first quarter of 2008, according to advance estimates released by the BEA. The Bureau stressed that the first-quarter "advance" estimates are based on source data that are incomplete or subject to further revision by the agency.

The increase in real GDP in Q1 mainly reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE) for services, private inventory investment, goods and services exports and federal government spending. These were partly offset by negative contributions from residential fixed investment and PCE for durable goods.

The State of (Un)Employment
The American economy lost 20,000 jobs in April, the fourth consecutive month of decline. But the number of jobs reported lost by the Labor Department (via The New York Times) on Friday was significantly smaller than most analysts had predicted, and the unemployment rate nudged down to 5 percent.

Meanwhile, U.S. Bureau of Labor numbers show that manufacturers continue to employ fewer workers. The employment rate fell from 13,690,000 in February to 13,596,000 in April. Industry agrees: The sector has lost jobs every month for nearly two years. Manufacturing employment declined from 49.2 in March to 45.4 in April, says the Institute for Supply Management's Purchasing Manager's Index. This represents a 3.8 percent decline and extends the trend to six months.

Federal Funds Rate Lowered to 2 Percent
The Federal Open Market Committee decided on Wednesday to lower its target for the federal funds rate 25 basis points to 2 percent. In a related action, the Board of Governors unanimously approved a 25-basis-point decrease in the discount rate to 2-1/4 percent.

Consumers Buy Fewer Goods
Consumers cut inflation-adjusted spending both on big-ticket durable goods, which plunged 6.1 percent, and on nondurable goods such as gasoline and food by 1.3 percent, CNN reports.

Consumer Confidence Slides
The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index, which had declined sharply in March, fell further in April. The Index now stands at 62.3 (1985=100), down from 65.9 in March. The Present Situation Index decreased to 80.7 from 90.6. The Expectations Index was almost unchanged, 50.1 versus 49.4 in March. Last August, the index had been at slightly above 105.

Crude Surges Above $120 for First Time
Today crude oil futures surged nearly $4 to above $120 a barrel for the first time "on concerns about supply disruptions in Nigeria and weakness in the U.S. dollar," MarketWatch reports this morning. "Crude oil for June delivery soared $3.89 to an intraday high of $120.21 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange in mid-morning trading, a new record high for a front-month contract."

Oil Reserve Volume Mixed
All petroleum reserves, including the government's Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), rose about one-half percent for the week ending April 25 over the previous week, according to the Energy Information Administration. This recent level is also about one percent above the volume stored in early January. Excluding the government's SPR, the April 25th week-over-week volume increased about 0.9 percent but fell a percent since early January. As of May 2, the total strategic petroleum reserve inventory was 701.5 million barrels.

Oil Prices Hurt Auto Sales
Sales of cars and light trucks fell about 6.9 percent when compared with April 2007 sales, according to preliminary figures from Autodata Corp. The price of oil is "causing a very sharp shift to industry sales," the top sales analyst at General Motors Corp. tells the The WSJ. The shift moves away from pickup trucks and SUVs, sales of which have fallen further and faster than those of other vehicles. The analyst also says pricey oil is dragging down the overall industry. "We still think there will be a recovery in the second half."

GM Reports Net Loss of $3.3 Billion
GM's total revenue for the first quarter was $42.7 billion, down slightly from $43.4 billion in the year-ago quarter, chiefly because of lower North America automotive and financial services and insurance revenue, the company says. Automotive earnings, before tax, were down by $118 million. The firm noted the "significant impact" of the American Axle strike and weak U.S. auto industry.

Consumers Preferring Fuel Efficiency
"Sales of Toyota's subcompact Yaris increased 46 percent, and Honda's tiny Fit had a record month, says The NYT. Ford's compact Focus model jumped 32 percent in April from a year earlier. All those models are rated at more than 30 miles a gallon for highway driving. In another first, fuel-sipping four-cylinder engines surpassed six-cylinder models in popularity in April."

New Device Advances Photovoltaic Cell Efficiency
Scientists at the University of Tel Aviv have built a hybrid nano-bio, solid-state photovoltaic device with an efficiency of about 25 percent.

EE Times reports.

The scientists applied genetic engineering and nanotechnology for the construction of a hybrid nano -- bio, solid state device. According to the researchers, although using photosynthesis for photovoltaic application is not new, their specific technique is the first to enable the production of useful photosynthesis-based photovoltaic cells.

The researchers claim their way of constructing efficient photovoltaic cells will cost at least 100 times less than conventional silicon-based devices. One square meter of the dry proteins photosystem "should cost around $1."

Patent Legislation May Come to Senate Floor
The U.S. House has approved a comprehensive patent bill that would make it hard to prove inequitable (misrepresentations during application) conduct, reports The NYT. "Senators are haggling over a companion bill, approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, and hope to take it to the floor this summer." Lobbyists for opposed groups have together spent $4.3 million to affect the "haggling's" outcome.

Dollar Value Climbs
The dollar rose across the board in Friday's midday trading, soaring to a five-week high against the euro.