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DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer declined considerably by 0.6%
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For the week ending July 27th 2013, the DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer declined considerably by 0.6 percent, the biggest drop since February 9, after a pickup of 0.2 percent in the prior week. Decreases were seen in most of the indexes other than Railroad Freight Carloadings, which was virtually a flat reading. The largest negative contribution to the barometer was Chain Store Sales, declining by 1.6 percent. Electric Output also declined significantly by 6.1 percent for two consecutive weeks. Lumber Production, which showed a slight increase in the previous week, dropped back down to the level seen in the early May.
On a year-over-year basis, the barometer showed an increase of 0.1 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 rate of increase for the 2012 slightly slowed to 1.4 percent following 2.2 percent in 2011.
The smoothed version of the barometer, which attempts to account for weekly volatility, decreased by 0.1 percent. Its year-over-year growth rate was 0.4 percent.
Posted: August 8, 2013 Thursday 10:00 AM