Research >> Economics
BTMU U.S. Business Barometer declined by 0.2%
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For the week ending February 27 2016, the BTMU U.S. Business Barometer declined by 0.2 percent to 97.7, driven by weak performances in both consumption and production indexes. Chain store sales slid by 0.2 percent after remaining flat in the prior week; while MBA’s purchase index and railroad freight car loadings also reported minor losses. As to the production side, all indexes except truck production recorded losses. For instance, electric output and coal production fell by 2.3 and 2.7 percent, respectively.
On a year-over-year basis, the barometer declined by 0.7 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 by 0.1 percent to 97.8. Its year-over-year growth rate was -0.6 percent.
Posted: March 10, 2016 Thursday 10:00 AM