Research >> Economics
DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer decreased slightly by 0.2%
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For the week ending March 9, 2013, the DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer decreased slightly by 0.2 percent following a 0.4 percent increase a week before. The biggest drop among the components was Railroad Freight Carloardings, which declined by 2.9 percent following a 2.4 percent increase. Meanwhile Chain Store Sales rose by 0.7 percent after showing virtually no movement for two consecutive weeks. On the production side, Steel Production dropped by 1.4 percent and has been showing the moderate decrease since its peak in May 2012.
On a year-over-year basis, the barometer showed an increase of 0.7 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, rose by 0.1 percent at the same pace for four weeks in a row. Its year-over-year growth rate was 0.6 percent.
Posted: March 21, 2013 Thursday 10:00 AM