Construction spending was up for March, according to the latest figures from the Census Bureau, released last week. Construction spending during the month reached an annual rate of $768.9 billion, 1.4 percent above February's revised estimate of $758.6 billion, but 6.7 percent below March 2010's estimate of $824 billion.

Spending on private construction reached an annual rate of $476.1 billion, 2.2 percent above February's revised estimate of $466 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $229.1 billion in March, 2.6 percent over February's revised estimate of $223.2 billion.

U.S. car and truck sales for April marked another monthly gain for auto makers, according to sales figures released by the manufacturers last week. Sales for April rose 18 percent, with U.S. and Korean brands gaining market share from Japanese manufacturers still reeling from their nation's earthquake and tsunami disaster. April's sales reached an annual sales rate of 13.2 million, marking the third month in a row that the annual rate topped 13 million.

Key performers were Kia, which enjoyed an amazing 57 percent increase; Hyundai, which posted a 40 percent sales increase; General Motors which rose 27 percent; Chrysler Group which chalked up a 23 percent gain; and Ford, which saw a 13 percent gain, and would have seen a 16 percent gain were it not for its underperforming Lincoln division and loss of its Mercury and Volvo divisions.

New orders placed in March for manufactured goods, increased $13.5 billion or 3 percent to $462.9 billion, marking a fifth consecutive monthly gain, the Census Bureau reported last week. March's solid performance followed a 0.7 percent February increase. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 2.6 percent. Similarly, shipments in March, up seven consecutive months, increased $12.0 billion or 2.7 percent to $461.4 billion. This followed a 0.6 percent increase in February.

Inventories, up 14 of the last 15 months, increased $6.3 billion or 1.1 percent to $572.3 billion. This followed a 1 percent February increase. This put March's inventories-to-shipments ratio at 1.24, down from 1.26 in February.

In related news, nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased at a 1.6 percent annual rate during the first quarter of 2011, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last week. The gain in productivity reflects increases of 3.1 percent in output and 1.4 percent in hours worked. From the first quarter of 2010 to the first quarter of 2011, output increased 3.2 percent while hours rose 1.9 percent, yielding an increase in productivity of 1.3 percent, the Bureau said.

Unit labor costs in nonfarm businesses rose 1 percent in the first quarter of 2011, as a 2.6 percent increase in hourly compensation outpaced the 1.6 percent gain in productivity. That's a 1.2 percent increase in unit labor costs from the same quarter a year ago.

Meanwhile, manufacturing productivity grew 6.3 percent in the first quarter of 2011, as output and hours worked increased 9.7 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively. Over the last four quarters, manufacturing productivity increased 4.7 percent, the Bureau reported.

For the week ending April 30, claims for unemployment insurance benefits jumped to 474,000, an increase of 43,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 431,000, according to the Employment and Training Administration. The four-week moving average was 431,250, an increase of 22,250 from the previous week's revised average of 409,000.

The advance unemployment total for that week was 3,733,000, an increase of 74,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,659,000. That said, the four-week moving average was 3,700,750, a decrease of 1,250 from the preceding week's revised four-week moving average of 3,702,000.

This week's economic news leads on Tuesday with April's import and export prices from the Census Bureau, which will also release March's wholesale inventory statistics that day, as well.

On Wednesday, the Census Bureau will also release March's balance of trade, and the Treasury Department will release its April budget.

Thursday follows with initial jobless claim benefits totals for last week from the Employment and Training Administration. The Census Bureau will release April's retail sales data for April, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release April's producer price index on that day, as well. The Bureau of Labor Statistics will follow with April's consumer price index on Friday.