Welcome to the March edition of The Signal – a column from Neudata that curates the latest, interesting data vendor research on market trends. Each link below highlights a research study or report released by a data provider, in which they analyse their own data in conjunction with this month's relevant market headlines.

In our second edition, we assess the strength of the US economic recovery through tracking hiring activity, construction starts and import volumes, encounter some optimism about Chinese domestic travel in the spring, and evaluate the impact of European restrictions on retail in the region.

U.S. job advertisements are up 50% over pre-pandemic levels
US companies are showing more optimism about the economy, according to an analysis of help-wanted ads from Greenwich.HR. Healthcare, supply chain and the services sector are seeing the most growth, but there’s also demand for new employees in entertainment, hospitality and financial services.
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European non-essential retail footfall in decline as pandemic third wave looms
Tightening restrictions and slow vaccine roll-out in Europe is crippling consumer confidence and mobility, according to new data from Huq Industries. In-store footfall for non-essential shops fell almost one-third in February.
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Chinese domestic air travel slides over Lunar New Year period but bookings for May holiday look promising
Considerable travel demand could drive May flight bookings higher in China, according to research from ForwardKeys. While Chinese New Year travel bookings lagged again this year, flight tickets issued for the Labour Day holiday in early May are so far only -8% behind where they were at the equivalent moment in 2019.
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US-bound imports remain strong in February
Cumulative January and February shipments to the US helped to “scrub the effect’ of the timing of Lunar New Year imports from Asia and were up 17.9% compared to the same period in 2020, according to data from Panjiva. One reason for the strong activity? Backlogs and congestion at several big US ports.
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US construction starts down to begin 2021
A report from Dodge Data and Analytics revealed that total construction starts in the US dropped 4% in January. Strong warehouse and manufacturing activity wasn’t enough to offset the weakness across virtually every other sector.
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Sneaker resellers putting their best foot forward
Online sneaker resellers are eating away at brick-and-mortar sneaker stores’ market share, according to Second Measure. The big winners? GOAT, StockX, Stadium Goods and Flight Club. The losers? Foot Locker, Shoe Palace and Finish Line.
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Photo by Aron Visuals on Unsplash