Research >> Economics
DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer decreased 0.3%
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For the week ending February 12, 2011, the DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer declined by -0.3 percent after increasing for two consecutive weeks. Though sixty percent of the barometer’s components increased in the latest week, the overall index was dragged down by a big dip in housing activity and inflation-adjusted chain store sales. According to Weather Trends International (WTI), snowfall “socked the South again…with widespread 6-12 inches from the Texas Panhandle to northern Arkansas.” Rising gas prices and unrest in the Middle East may also be weighing on household spending plans. President Hosni Mubarak stepped down from power in Egypt on February 11th as the citizen revolt came to a head.
On a year-over-year basis, the barometer slowed slightly to +3.9 percent in the week ending February 12, 2011, 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 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%), but not so impressive when you compare it to an -8.0 percent drop in 2009.
Posted: February 24, 2011 Thursday 10:00 AM