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Kit Menkin’s Leasing News www.leasingnews.org Friday, January 18 ,2002 Headlines----
Association for Government Leasing and Finance Membership Up 37% (
Why U.S.Housing Government Report---great economic indicator, especially
the conclusions: "The current thinking is for a slow and gradual recovery
starting in the 2nd half. "The reasons for the delays are continuing
weakness in the manufacturing sector - this won't change until capacity
utilization (and profit margins) improves. When it does, stronger business
investment will support better GDP growth and a better employment picture.
" Housing is expected to pull back modestly this year, but the annual
rate (SAAR) should remain healthy (latest NAHB forecast calls for 1.575
million starts in 2002 with 2.24 million SF starts). If there is a weak
point to the housing sector, most analysts feel that weakness in the
"luxury home" category will continue." CONTACT: Marc Donahue De Lage Landen Financial Services Phone Number: 610/386-5030 Fax Number: 610/386-5038 E-mail: mdonahue@leasedirect.com
( Courtesy of ELAonline.com ) ### ##################################
################### -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes, there will be an edition Monday, January 21,2000 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Official Holiday Streamlined Sales Tax The leasing definition has
been placed on the agenda of the Streamlined Sales Tax Project meeting in
New Orleans. The Leasing Subgroup
will touch upon it during the morning
session on Thursday, January 24.
Assuming no opposition is raised, it will
be discussed and voted upon during the full Project meeting scheduled Thursday
afternoon. Wyoming Department
of Revenue Director Johnnie Burton will
likely Chair the Leasing Subgroup discussions in the absence of Scott Peterson,
Business Tax Director, South Dakota Department of Revenue. Scott must stay in South Dakota for the legislative
session. Dennis Brown DBROWN@ELAMAIL.COM _______________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- -- Request to Readers---Magazine/Newsletter
Back Issues Past Magazine/Newsline Editions---for
research and "obituary purposes," Leasing News is trying to build
up our library. If you have any old issues of Equipment Lease/Finance
Report/ WAEL or UAEL Newsline/ or any industry magazine, we would be glad
to send you a UPS pre-paid envelope or send to us UPS collect at 346 Mathew Street,
Santa Clara, Ca. 95050. One of our projects in the future will
be to catalogue them. _______________________________________________________________- U.S. Housing Starts - December
2001 Due primarily to a 26% decrease
in multi family activity, housing starts fell 3.4% in December to a
rate of 1.57 million (SAAR). This
is the exact opposite to last month's activity
when the volatile multi - family sector increased 23%. The good news is that single-family starts
were up a respectable 3.6% to 1.293 million
(SAAR). Permits, an indicator
of future activity, were up 3.6% (1.653
million SAAR. Single-family
permits were up 3.1%. Regional starts data showed weakness everywhere
except the West where starts were up 8.3%. Analysis and outlook: Total starts for 2001 were 1.603 million, 2%
above the 2000 figure of 1.568 million.
Single - family starts in 2001 were 1.274 million, 3.5% higher than
2000's 1.23 million. Housing fundamentals remain strong: mortgage rates are still attractive
despite inching up in December
(the December fixed rate for conventional 1st mortgages averaged 7.07%, compared
with 6.67% in November); consumer confidence is returning from
the September 11 lows; inflation at the retail (CPI) and wholesale level (PPI)
is a non event; business investment plans, according to the latest survey
from National Assoc. Business Economists, are expected to improve over the
next 12 months; and the FED may give us another rate reduction at the end of
the month. Some problems remain: industrial production continues to languish,
with capacity utilization at 74.4%,
the lowest level since 1983; unemployment is approaching 6%, however, the
initial claims 4 week moving average (a better indicator of the current employment
situation), has been improving since October; and corporate profits
aren't expected to improve much before the second half of "02"
due to continuing overcapacity problems in key industries like autos, semiconductors,
steel, and many wood products. The consensus for the timing
of macroeconomic recovery keeps changing - essentially postponement to
later in the year. The current
thinking is for a slow and gradual recovery
starting in the 2nd half. The reasons for the delays are continuing weakness in the manufacturing
sector - this won't change
until capacity utilization (and profit margins) improves. When it does, stronger
business investment will support better GDP growth and a better employment
picture. Housing is expected to pull back modestly this year, but the annual
rate (SAAR) should remain healthy
(latest NAHB forecast calls for 1.575 million starts in 2002 with 2.24 million
SF starts). If there is a
weak point to the housing sector, most analysts
feel that weakness in the "luxury home" category will continue. And, because housing stayed strong during the current recession,
there is little "pent up "
demand in the system, and that means residential construction can't be expected
to lead us out of the current economic downturn as it has in past.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------ State-by-state cigarette tax
rates By Associated Press, A comparison of per-pack state taxes on cigarettes. On Wednesday, state legislators
in Albany approved a 39- cent-a-pack increase in
New York State. Beginning April 1, New York's cigarette tax will become $1.50 per
pack. 1. Washington, $1.425 2. New York, $1.11 (increases
to $1.50 on April 1) 3. Arkansas, $1 3. Maine, $1 3. Rhode Island, $1 3. Hawaii, $1 7. California, 87 cents 8. New Jersey, 80 cents 9. Wisconsin, 77 cents 10. Massachusetts, 76 cents 11. Michigan, 75 cents 12. Oregon, 68 cents 13. Maryland, 66 cents 14. District of Columbia, 65
cents 15. Arizona, 58 cents 15. Illinois, 58 cents 17. New Hampshire, 52 cents 18. Utah, 51.5 cents 19. Connecticut, 50 cents 20. Minnesota, 48 cents 21. North Dakota, 44 cents 21. Vermont, 44 cents 23. Texas, 41 cents 24. Iowa, 36 cents 25. Nevada, 35 cents 26. Arkansas, 34 cents 26. Nebraska, 34 cents 28. Florida, 33.9 cents 29. South Dakota, 33 cents 30. Pennsylvania, 31 cents 31. Idaho, 28 cents 32. Delaware, 24 cents 32. Kansas, 24 cents 32. Louisiana, 24 cents 32. Ohio, 24 cents 36. Oklahoma, 23 cents 37. New Mexico, 21 cents 38. Colorado, 20 cents 39. Mississippi, 18 cents 39. Montana, 18 cents 41. Missouri, 17 cents 41. West Virginia, 17 cents 43. Alabama, 16.5 cents 44. Indiana, 15.5 cents 45. Tennessee, 13 cents 46. Georgia, 12 cents 46. Wyoming, 12 cents 48. South Carolina, 7 cents 49. North Carolina, 5 cents 50. Kentucky, 3 cents 51. Virginia, 2.5 cents The federal per-pack tax is
39 cents. SOURCE: American Cancer Society New York's unemployment rate
continues to climb By Joel Stashenko, Associated
Press ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) New York
state's unemployment rate rose to 5.8 percent in December, its highest level
in nearly four years, and analysts Thursday blamed the Sept. 11 terrorist
attack and the national recession. Unemployment was 5.5 percent
in November and 4.5 percent in December 2000. December's jobless rate matched
that of the nation as a whole, the state Labor Department reported.
Joblessness in New York City
was 7.4 percent, up from 6.9 percent in November and 5.6 percent in
December 2000. Between December 2000 and December 2001, the state lost
111,100 private-sector jobs 95,800 of them in New York City. Along with ''wide spread''
manufacturing losses, the finance, insurance and real estate sector of the economy
also lost 3,200 jobs in December and transportation and public utilities
which includes the airline industry lost 1,800 jobs last month. Gov. George Pataki's chief
economist, Stephen Kagann, found a bright spot, of sorts, in the latest employment
report. He said the pace of the monthly loss of jobs is continuing
to slow, from 63,000 in October to 23,300 in November to 9,500 in December.
New York City's job loss from
December 2000 to December 2001 was 3 percent, or twice the national rate.
''Yet, even with large losses
in the city, the state is weathering the storm better than it did during the
recession of 1990-91,'' Kagann said. Unlike the recession of a decade ago,
Kagann said few companies are leaving New York and taking their jobs
with them. The last time unemployment
was as high as 5.8 percent was in March 1998. Among individual counties,
Cortland had the highest unemployment rate in December at 9.6 percent. Putnam
The jobless figures are based
on monthly surveys of 20,000 businesses. The jobs are both full- and part-time.
The jobs data does not include agricultural workers, the self-employed
and domestic workers in private households. The statewide jobless figures
are seasonally adjusted, which means they are altered to take into account
normal fluctuations in employment schools being in or out of session, for instance,
or summer tourism-related jobs over the course of a year. Here is a breakdown, not seasonally
adjusted, for major metropolitan areas in the state: New York City, 245,900 jobless
or 7.0 percent, compared with 6.8 percent in November and 5.2 percent in
December of last year. Albany area, 15,700 or 3.5
percent, compared with 3.2 percent and 3.1 percent. Binghamton area, 6,800 or 5.4
percent, compared with 5.0 and 3.3. Buffalo area, 30,700 or 5.5
percent, compared with 5.2 and 4.9. Elmira area, 2,800 or 6.6 percent,
compared with 6.0 and 4.1. Poughkeepsie area, 4,300 or
3.6 percent, compared with 3.5 and 2.5. Rochester area, 30,100 or 5.3
percent, compared with 5.0 and 3.7. Syracuse area, 18,800 or 5.2
percent, compared with 4.9 and 4.3. Utica-Rome area, 6,900 or 4.9
percent, compared with 4.5 and 4.2. Nassau County, 25,400 or 3.6
percent, compared with 3.6 and 2.3. Suffolk County, 27,900 or 3.8
percent, compared with 3.7 and 2.8. Westchester County, 16,800
or 3.8 percent, compared with 3.7 and 2.6. Rockland County, 4,700 or 3.3
percent, compared with 3.3 and 2.4. Putnam County, 1,500 or 2.7
percent, compared with 2.8 and 1.9. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------- Policy Statement This is our policy statement
on line at www.leasingnews.org We often repeat it in the leasing
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