Five noteworthy figures from the previous week

$60 billion
The amount of Chinese imports to the U.S. that may soon face tariffs.

Following up on the newly imposed excise taxes for imported aluminum and steel, the Trump administration plans a second round of taxes on as much as $60 billion worth of Chinese goods heading to the U.S. The list of specific products subject to the tariffs may not be finalized until May.

Source: Washington Post

3
Consecutive months that new home sales have fallen.

Economists surveyed by Reuters expected a 4.4% rise in sales for February, not the 0.6% decline that the Census Bureau announced Friday. At $326,800, the median price of a new home last month was 9.7% higher than it was a year earlier.

Source: Reuters

197,000
Net monthly job growth since the Federal Reserve began tightening at the end of 2015.

The central bank has gradually increased the benchmark interest rate with the belief that the economy is strong enough to tolerate such policy change. The economic gains recorded since then have affirmed the Fed’s view.

Source: New York Times

62%
The percentage of Americans unaware that the Fed raised interest rates in 2017.

Conducting a survey on behalf of personal finance website NerdWallet, the Harris Poll garnered this result; they surveyed 2,000 U.S. adults who were at least 18 years old.

Source: Detroit Free Press

4.75%
The new prime lending rate at most major banks.

This was 4.5% prior to last week’s Federal Reserve interest rate move. The prime loan rate rises or falls in step with changes in the federal funds rate, and it is the base rate that banks use to set interest rates on short-term commercial and consumer loans.

Source: Business Insider