Research >> Economics
DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer dropped by 0.5%
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For the week ending December 28 2013, the DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer dropped by 0.5 percent following a slight decrease in the prior week although it remained relatively high. Both consumption and production indexes negatively contributed to this week’s barometer. Chain store sales rose again this week after increasing for two consecutive weeks while railroad freight carloadings declined for two weeks in a row. On the production side, a large increase in lumber production was more than offset by decreases in truck and auto production and steel production.
On a year-over-year basis, the barometer showed a gain of 1.3 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, increased slightly by 0.1 percent. Its year-over-year growth rate was 1.1 percent.
Posted: January 9, 2014 Thursday 10:00 AM