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DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer fell slightly by 0.1%
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For the week ending February 14 2015, the DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer fell slightly by 0.1 percent to 98.3. The decrease in this week’s barometer is mainly owing to weak performances in production indexes, in which all except lumber production reported losses. For instance, auto production slipped again by 6.2 percent, following a 4.2 percent decline in the previous week. As to the consumption side, chain store sales rose by 2.3 percent, although it was partially offset by a sharp drop of 7.1 percent in MBA’s purchase index.
On a year-over-year basis, the barometer showed a gain of 0.7 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 98.3. Its year-over-year growth rate was 1.0 percent.
Posted: February 26, 2015 Thursday 10:00 AM