In March, the monetary base was $3.883 trillion, which was its highest level since November 2017. (Of course, as of this writing in mid April, the monetary base has increased much more than this.) This was the fourth month in a row of month-over-month accelerating growth, which tends to be a positive sign for capital equipment consumption. March’s 14.8% rate of growth was much faster than the previous three months and the fastest rate of month-over-month growth since September 2014.

The annual rate of contraction in the money supply, -4.7%, decelerated for the fifth month in a row, which also is a positive sign for capital equipment consumption. This was the slowest rate of annual contraction since December 2018. A decelerating contraction in the annual rate of change in the money supply tends to lead to a decelerating contraction in capital equipment spending.