Research >> Economics
DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer declined slightly by 0.1%
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For the week ending April 12 2014, the DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer declined slightly by 0.1 percent following two consecutive weeks’ steady rises. In the production index, steel production dropped sharply by 4.0 percent, cancelling out a 3.9 percent increase in the prior week, and more than offsetting a pickup in lumber production. Auto and truck production picked up from decreases last week. Consumption index also contributed to the barometer negatively but marginally, where chain store sales dropped by 0.3 percent.
On a year-over-year basis, the barometer showed a gain of 0.4 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 by 0.1 percent this week and continued to show a rising trend. Its year-over-year growth rate was 0.3 percent.
Posted: April 24, 2014 Thursday 10:00 AM