Research >> Economics
DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer increased further by 0.3%
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For the week ending June 29th 2013, the DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer increased further by 0.3 percent following a gain of 0.3 percent in the prior week. Some notable gains were seen in both production and consumption indexes. Chain Store Sales rose for three consecutive weeks and Railroad Freight Carloadings picked up after declining for two weeks in a row. Truck Production continued to gain, a 4.3 percent of rise this week. Electric Output increased significantly by 5.2 percent and its level rebounded to the same as on April 20, most likely due to the abnormal summer heat. Meanwhile the decreasing trend of Steel Production remained.
On a year-over-year basis, the barometer showed an increase of 0.9 percent for the twelfth consecutive week, 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 percent), but not so impressive when compared to an -8.0 percent drop in 2009. The rate of increase for the 2012 slightly slowed to 1.4 percent following 2.2 percent in 2011.
The smoothed version of the barometer, which attempts to account for weekly volatility, increased by 0.1 percent for the second consecutive week. Its year-over-year growth rate was 0.8 percent.
Posted: July 11, 2013 Thursday 10:00 AM