Research >> Economics
DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer declined by 0.3%
|
For the week ending May 19, 2012, the DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer declined by -0.3% following -0.2 percent decrease in the prior week, falling for three consecutive weeks. Inflation-adjusted chain store sales have been falling for four weeks since May started. For car and truck production, a drop in auto production occurred in the late April, but the production rose in May and remains relatively stable. Truck production slightly increased from last week after a continuous decline for two weeks. As for other production sector, electric output showed a small increase while lumber production decreased by -2.7 percent.
On a year-over-year basis, the barometer grew +1.6 percent, which compares to an average -3.3 percent decline over the Great Recession (determined to have ended in June 2009 according to the NBER). After flatlining in 2006, and declining from 2007 through 2009, the barometer bounced back in 2010 to rise by +3.4 percent, which was the strongest increase since 1994 (+4.0%), but not so impressive when compared to an -8.0 percent drop in 2009. The barometer increased by +2.2% in 2011 at a somewhat slower pace compared to 2010.
The smoothed version of the barometer, which attempts to account for weekly volatility, decreased by -0.2% in the week ending May 12th, while its year-over-year growth rate slightly slowed to +1.7 percent.
Posted: May 31, 2012 Thursday 10:00 AM