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DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer declined by 0.2%
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For the week ending May 12, 2012, the DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer declined by -0.2% following -0.4 percent decrease in the prior week. Inflation-adjusted chain store sales have remained weak since May started, however, improvements of production sectors somewhat contributed to offset the weakness. As for the production sector, truck production and electric output showed a sharp decrease, yet other productions demonstrated a modest improvement from last week.
On a year-over-year basis, the barometer grew +1.6 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 was same at +1.9 percent.
Posted: May 24, 2012 Thursday 10:00 AM