Research >> Economics
BTMU U.S. Business Barometer bounced back by 0.5%
|
For the week ending March 12 2016, the BTMU U.S. Business Barometer bounced back by 0.5 percent to 97.8, driven by both consumption and production indexes. Chain store sales picked up by 1.3 percent, after a sharp loss of 1.9 percent in the previous week. Other consumption indexes such as MBA’s purchase index and railroad freight car loadings also reported minor gains. As to the production side, most indexes recorded gains. For instance, steel production and electric output rose by 1.8 and 1.7 percent, respectively.
On a year-over-year basis, the barometer declined by 0.3 percent, which compares to an average -3.3 percent decline over the Great Recession (ended in June 2009 according to the NBER). After flat lining 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 percent), but not so impressive when compared to an -8.0 percent drop in 2009. The rate of increase for the 2013 slowed to 0.7 percent following 1.5 percent in 2012.
The smoothed version of the barometer, which attempts to account for weekly volatility, remained flat at 97.6. Its year-over-year growth rate was -0.7 percent.
Posted: March 24, 2016 Thursday 10:00 AM