Research >> Economics
MUFG U.S. Business Barometer dropped by 0.3%
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For the week ending April 16 2016, the MUFG U.S. Business Barometer dropped by 0.3 percent to 97.8. This week’s barometer was driven by poor performances in most consumption and production indexes. MBA’s purchase index and railroad freight car loadings, for instance, declined by 0.5 and 0.9 percent, respectively. As to the production side, most indexes reported losses. Auto and coal production fell by 2.9 and 6.5 percent, respectively; while lumber production contracted by 2.8 percent.
On a year-over-year basis, the barometer declined by 1.0 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, remained flat at 97.8. Its year-over-year growth rate was -1.0 percent.
Posted: April 28, 2016 Thursday 10:00 AM