Research >> Economics
DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer up 0.7%
For the week ending April 4, 2009, the DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer started out the second quarter of 2009 with a robust gain of +0.7 percent. Granted, the lion’s share of the jump was due to a surge in truck production, but other areas of the economy contributed nicely such as lumber production and mortgage applications (we have started to see pockets of improvement in housing) and inflation-adjusted chain store sales (early signs of the Easter holiday boost). The smoothed version of the barometer has stabilized over the past three weeks, giving support to the fact that certain broad economic indicators have begun to improve.
Posted: April 16, 2009 Thursday 10:00 AM