Led by improvements in production related indicators, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) increased to -0.30 in May from 0-0.52 in April. The index’s 3 month moving average, CFNAI-MA3, decreased to -0.43 in May from -0.13 in April, marking the third consecutive reading below zero and its lowest level since October 2012. May’s CFNAI-MA3 [...]
The Empire State Manufacturing Survey was released on Monday and indicates conditions for New York manufacturers improved modestly. The general business conditions index-the most comprehensive of the survey’s measures-rose 9 points to 7.8. Nevertheless, most other indicators in the survey fell. Continuing the trend seen in the past few months, indexes for the six month [...]
The Metals Service Center Institute reports in this week’s Advocacy News ... that a coalition of 42 corporations announced they had formed the Alliance for Competitive Taxation (ACT) to argue for bipartisan, comprehensive tax reform. The group which includes Alcoa, Dow Chemical, JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America, called for the corporate tax rate to [...]
I apologize for misinforming you last week: The LEI will not be released this week, the ISM index was released on Monday. US factories in May posted their worst month since the end of the recession, as weakness overseas overwhelmed a still shaky manufacturing recovery at home. “ Wall Street Journal The Institute of Supply [...]