by Calculated Risk on 2/27/2013 09:17:00 PM

From the WaPo: Obama to meet congressional leaders on ways to avoid sequester impact

President Obama will meet with congressional leaders Friday at the White House to discuss a way to avoid the fallout of deep spending cuts ...

Among the sequester’s possible impacts, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration warned Wednesday, are major flight delays and the closure of hundreds of air traffic control towers at smaller airports across the country.

“Flights to major cities like New York, Chicago and San Francisco could experience delays, in some instances up to 90 minutes during peak hours, because we’ll have fewer controllers on staff,” FAA administrator Michael P. Huerta said in a speech to an American Bar Association forum in Washington. ... Should the cuts occur as scheduled, travelers would begin to notice the impact in mid-April, according to the [National Air Traffic Controllers Association].

This will not have a huge negative impact (defaulting on the debt would have been serious), but this is still unnecessary.

Thursday economic releases:
• At 8:30 AM ET, the initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released. The consensus is for claims to decrease to 360 thousand from 362 thousand last week.

• Also at 8:30 AM, Q4 GDP (second estimate). This is the second estimate of GDP from the BEA. The consensus is that real GDP increased 0.5% annualized in Q4, revised up from a negative 0.1% in the advance report.

• At 9:45 AM, the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index for February. The consensus is for a decrease to 55.0, down from 55.6 in January.

• At 11:00 AM, the Kansas City Fed regional Manufacturing Survey for February will be released. This is the last of the regional surveys for February, and most of the surveys have indicated expansion.

• Also at 11:00 AM, The Federal Reserve Bank of New York will release the Q4 2012 Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit