Substantially Adverse Economic Circumstances Have Begun to Unfold,
Threatening FOMC Hopes for Normalizing Monetary Policy

Amidst Mounting Income and Credit Stresses on Consumers,
Headline Retail Sales Suffered Major, Near-Term Downside Revisions;
Recent Auto Sales Were Not As Strong as Advertised

First-Quarter Real Average Weekly Earnings Declined Year-to-Year,
Along with Back-to-Back Quarterly Contractions,
Circumstances Not Seen Since the Stalled GDP of Second-Half 2012

Real Growth in Consumer Credit Outstanding Has Faltered in a Manner
Also Not Seen Since the Stalled GDP of Second-Half 2012

Headline CPI-U Inflation Fell by 0.29% (-0.29%) in March,
Pushing Annual CPI-U Inflation Lower to 2.38% (Was 2.74%), with
CPI-W at 2.35% (Was 2.82%) and ShadowStats at 10.1% (was 10.5%)

March Final-Demand PPI Annual Inflation Hit a 60-Month High of 2.28%