Research >> Economics
MUFG U.S. Business Barometer picked up by 0.1%
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For the week ending April 2 2016, the MUFG U.S. Business Barometer picked up by 0.1 percent to 97.5. This week’s barometer is characterized by a mixed performance in the indexes. Auto and truck production, for instance, rose by 0.5 and 1.4 percent, respectively. Similarly, electric output increased by 0.6 percent, after falling by 4.0 percent in the previous week. On the other hand, steel and coal production dropped by 1.0 and 4.2 percent, respectively. Consumption indexes such as MBA’s purchase index and railroad freight car loadings also reported losses.
On a year-over-year basis, the barometer declined by 1.3 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 flat at 97.5. Its year-over-year growth rate was -1.2 percent.
Posted: April 14, 2016 Thursday 10:00 AM