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DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer declined by 0.4%
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For the week ending May 5, 2012, the DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer declined by -0.4% following +0.1 percent increase in the prior week. Decline in inflation-adjusted chain store sales and railroad freight car-loadings contributed to the drop of the week. As for the production sector, auto production and electric output made a rebound but was not strong enough to hold the index for the latest week.
On a year-over-year basis, the barometer grew +1.8 percent, 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%), but not so impressive when compared to an -8.0 percent drop in 2009. The barometer increased by +2.2% in 2011 at a somewhat slower pace compared to 2010.
The smoothed version of the barometer, which attempts to account for weekly volatility, was unchanged from prior week, while its year-over-year growth rate slightly increased to +2.0 percent.
Posted: May 17, 2012 Thursday 10:00 AM