Research >> Economics
DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer edged down 0.4%
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For the week ending April 14, 2012, the DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer was down by 0.4 percent after posting consecutive increases in prior 2 weeks. Drop in inflation-adjusted chain store sales and mortgage index contributed to the weekly drop, perhaps a sign that the warm weather factor is gradually fading out. As for the production sector, while truck production saw a rebound, other data was mostly flat for the latest week.
On a year-over-year basis, the barometer grew +1.1 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%), but not so impressive when you compare it to an -8.0 percent drop in 2009. The barometer increased by +2.2% in 2011 at a somewhat slower pace compared to 2010.
The smoothed version of the barometer, which attempts to account for weekly volatility, continued to increase by +0.1 percent in the week ending April 14th, while its year-over-year growth rate increased +1.4 percent.
Posted: April 26, 2012 Thursday 10:00 AM