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DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer rebounded by 0.4%
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For the week ending February 2, 2013, the DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer rebounded by 0.4 percent following a 0.3 percent decrease in the prior week. Businesses in the consumption side, especially Chain Store Sales which recovered from four consecutive weeks’ declines, picked up considerably. Railroad Freight Carloadings also bounced back after dropping for two weeks in a row. Productions in many of the producing sectors slightly decreased or leveled off.
On a year-over-year basis, the barometer showed increase of 1.1 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 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, remained unchanged following decreases for five consecutive weeks. Its year-over-year growth rate was 1.2 percent.
Posted: February 14, 2013 Thursday 10:00 AM