The present situation index increased by over a point, while the expectations index fell by almost the same amount. 

Although the economic recovery has been in progress for many months, it remains slower than many would like, and the slow-to-recover job market, sluggish income growth and volatile financial markets have many people frustrated.

Consumers have apparently had enough of “deleveraging” — the paying down of debt that was has taken place over the last four years. However, the slow pace at which they are adding on debt indicates it is unlikely they will rack up charges as quickly as they did before the recession. Revolving credit remains well off its high of $972 billion reached in late 2008.

Total indebtedness grew slightly in February, however. Overall consumer debt, which includes student loans, auto loans and mortgages, increased 4.3% compared to a year-ago, and now totals $2.5 trillion.

On a 12-month smoothed basis, retail employment rose .2%, compared to 1.6% for the overall economy. The department store sector drop was 2.6%, compared to a .6% increase for specialty stores. For the last three months, retail job growth has underperformed the rest of the economy as store operators cust positions to reduce operating costs.

The U.S. apparel industrial production index decreased in March compared to February but remains level compared to a year ago, signalling that the spike in domestic production might have been a temporary response to cost surges in the past year. Manufacturers responded by trying to cut and sew closer to home in order to respond more quickly to changes in demand.  However, it is too soon to tell whether this levelling off of domestic production activity is a trend or not.

The textile production index rose slightly compared to last month and a year ago. Apparel and textile production employment reamined stable in March. However, on a 12-month smoothed basis, apparel production employment fell by 1.6%, versus a 2.3% drop in textiles.

Textile mill shipments fell for the fifth month in a row, dropping almost 7% to $2.5 billion. Textile product shipments rose 3% to $1.9 billion.

Apparel manufacturing shipments rose 12% to $1.5 billion on a smoothed annualized basis. Wholesale apparel shipments increased 7% to $11.5 billion. The Inventory to Sales Ratio rose slightly for apparel manufacturing and textile milles, but fell for textile products and wholesale apparel in the past month.

China lost the most share of US textile imports, with an almost 2 point share loss, but remains the largest textile trading partner, at almost 48% of the total, or year-to-date dollar volume of $1.7 billion. Canada and Indonesia also lost year-to-date share.

There have been significant increases in yarns and home textiles (such as bedding and towels) from India compared to last year, and similar decreases from China. 

China lost the most share of U.S. year-to-date dollar apparel imports in 2011, off 1.7 percentage points compared to a year ago. Honduras and Pakistan also lost share.

The dollar value per unit (SME) of imported apparel from Bangladesh and Indonesia increased the most, while the value of imports from Cambodia increased the least.

Apparel imports rose negligibly in February compared to last year, to $6.5 billion. 

Though a much smaller number, apparel exports rose an impressive 16%, to $464 million. Apparel exports to Canada and Mexico comprised over half the total, followed at a distance by those to Japan and the United Kingdom. Exports to Honduras and the DR declined considerably, while those to Australia, Guatemala, Hong Kong, India and China increased significantly. 

Textile imports increased by 3.7% in dollars compared to the same month last year, and exports gained 2.5% to $1 billion.

Textile exports remain at near record high levels, thanks to healthy shipments to Canada and Mexico (which together comprise about 43% of the total) and Honduras. Exports to El Salvador have grown considerably in the past year. 

Total trade in apparel and textiles on a 12-month smoothed basis has slowed in the past several months. Export growth outpaces that of imports, however, due primarily to strong the demand in Canada and Mexico for U.S. apparel products.

The core inflation rate, which excludes food and energy, was up by only 2.3%, a bit higher than January’s increase, as prices of nondiscretionary items like food and energy remain relatively high.

After increasing by only 4.2% in February, the apparel and footwear price index spiked to 4.9% in March, outpacing overall inflation for the eighth month in a row.

The price of apparel played a major role here, rising 5.8% vs. only 5% in February. Footwear prices increased by only 1.2% in the month. Many apparel brands and retailers have raised prices in the past year to help cover higher labor and shipping costs, and it appears that the increases have stuck.

Women’s and teen specialty stores reported strong sales of full-priced colorful Spring apparel. Women’s apparel prices increased 4.9% in the month, the smallest increase. Menswear rose 5.1%, while the infant’s and children’s apparel price index surged 7.5%. 

Much of the childrenswear increase was seasonal, due to a larger-than-normal proportion of dressy clothing in anticipation of Easter.

The index rose by 3.0% compared to the same month last year, slightly below February’s 3.2%.

The producer price index for all goods increased by 2.8%, a sixth straight month of decline.

The apparel producer price increase was driven primarily by menswear, which rose 8%, their first monthly increase after five months of declines since last September, when they spiked 8.5%. Menswear producer prices still remain high relative to other apparel categories. Much of the rise in menswear prices is due to strong growth in men’s tailored clothing, a category that typically gains momentum during an economic recovery as more men buy suits for interviews and new jobs.

Women’s producer prices increased by 1%, almost half February’s rise. The women’s category had been stable for the past several months. Producer prices declined during the recession, but then rose pretty steadily between September 2010 and September 2011 as meteoric cotton prices impacted costs. Since then, however, apparel makers – under tremendous pressure to shore up gross margins – have substituted synthetics for cotton wherever they can.