Research >> Economics
DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer declined by 0.1%
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For the week ending June 2, 2012, the DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer decreased modestly by -0.1 percent. The decrease mainly reflected a sharp drop in Truck production, down by -13.1 percent. Declining Steel production also contributed to the drop in the week. Auto production slowed down to +0.3 percent from last week’s +1.8 percent. Chain Store Sales improved slightly from continuous decline over six weeks, and Railroad Freight Carloadings also showed a pickup.
On a year-over-year basis, the barometer increased by +1.0 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 percent), but not so impressive when compared to an -8.0 percent drop in 2009. The barometer increased by +2.2 percent 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 -0.1 percent in the week ending June 2nd while its year-over-year growth rate increased by +1.5 percent.
Posted: June 14, 2012 Thursday 10:00 AM