On Wednesday of this past week, British Prime Minister Theresa May triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty beginning the 2-year negotiation period with the European Union on exiting.  This came on the heals of mixed economic data from Europe and the UK.  Fourth quarter GDP in the UK remained unchanged as it was boosted by a weaker pound cited from earlier estimates while Euro area inflation fell to 1.5% in March.  German unemployment fell to a six year low at 5.8%, far below other EU members.

The final estimate of fourth quarter 2016 GDP for the U.S. was revised higher by 0.2% to 2.1%.  Overall economic growth in 2016 is 1.6% which is the slowest growth since 2011.

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