Research >> Economics
DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer decreased 0.2%
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For the week ending September 10, 2011, the DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer fell by -0.2 percent after a flat reading in the prior week. On the consumption side, inflation-adjusted chain store sales rebounded from the hurricane affected loss in the prior week, while mortgage applications gained for three consecutive weeks in spite of adverse winds in the housing market. On the production side, however, a big drop in electric output and a sizable cutback in truck production dragged down the overall index in the latest week.
On a year-over-year basis, the barometer slowed further to +0.8 percent in the week ending September 10, 2011, 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 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%), but not so impressive when you compare it to an -8.0 percent drop in 2009.
The smoothed version of the barometer, which attempts to account for weekly volatility, was flat in the latest week ending September 10th, after declining by -0.1 percent in the prior week, while its year-over-year growth rate slowed to +1.1 percent for two weeks in a row.
Posted: September 22, 2011 Thursday 10:00 AM