Research >> Economics
BTMU U.S. Business Barometer declined by 0.2%
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For the week ending November 7 2015, the BTMU U.S. Business Barometer declined by 0.2 percent to 97.5, extending the weakening trend for two weeks in a row. This week’s barometer was largely driven by production indexes, in which almost all reported losses. Steel production, for instance, dropped by 1.4 percent following another loss of 1.3 percent in the previous week. Likewise, auto and truck production fell by 4.0 and 0.7 percent, respectively. As to the consumption side, chain store sales picked up by 2.1 percent, somewhat offsetting the lossess on the production side.
On a year-over-year basis, the barometer showed a loss of 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, remained at 97.7. Its year-over-year growth rate was -0.6 percent.
Posted: November 19, 2015 Thursday 10:00 AM