Research >> Economics
BTMU U.S. Business Barometer climbed by 0.4%
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For the week ending November 21 2015, the BTMU U.S. Business Barometer climbed by 0.4 percent to 98.0, as robust gains in some indexes offset the minor losses in others. On the consumption side, chain store sales bounced back by 2.2 percent after falling by 1.0 percent in the previous week. As to the production side, steel and coal production rose by 3.7 and 2.4 percent, respectively. Similarly, electric output increased by 1.9 percent, after staying flat a week earlier.
On a year-over-year basis, the barometer showed a loss of 1.1 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, rose slightly by 0.1 percent to 97.8. Its year-over-year growth rate was -1.0 percent.
Posted: December 3, 2015 Thursday 10:00 AM