The latest from Wells Fargo’s economic gurus. By Jim Wilkie, CCIM

Friends:

The latest from Wells Fargo’s economic gurus.

U.S.
- Jobless claims and consumer confidence both came in lower than expected this week.
. Initial claims for unemployment rose 22,000 from the previous week, coming in at 496,000.
. Consumer confidence surveys revealed a noticeable failure in both the 'jobs hard to get' (too high) and 'jobs plentiful' (too low) categories.
- New home sales fell in January, reflecting weather and the initial expiration of the first time homebuyer credit.
- The recovery continues to take shape, but there is a realization that growth will not be sufficient to lower unemployment or generate ample public sector revenues.
- There are growing concerns that the applied stimulus to the economy today may lead to higher inflation and unsustainable deficits in the near future.

International
- Although the Mexican economy contracted for the full year 2009, the economy grew by 2.0 percent during the last quarter of the year compared to the previous quarter.
- Our current forefor the Mexican economy is for a growth rate of 3.4 percent, which is below par for a developing country like Mexico.

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