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DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer declined by 0.2%
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For the week ending May 2 2015, the BTMU U.S. Business Barometer declined by 0.2 percent to 98.8. This week’s barometer was largely dragged down by weak performance in chain stores sales, which slipped by 1.0 percent after posting a gain of 0.8 percent in the previous week. Along similar lines, coal production and electric output fell by 5.8 and 0.6 percent, respectively. Other indexes, however, reported minor gains. For example, lumber production and railroad freight car loadings rose by 2.9 and 1.1 percent, respectively; although those gains were not enough to offset the losses.
On a year-over-year basis, the barometer showed a gain of 0.6 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 98.9. Its year-over-year growth rate was 0.8 percent.
Posted: May 14, 2015 Thursday 10:00 AM