National Activity Index points to little change in economic growth in April: Chicago Fed

CHICAGO, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) rose slightly to +0.34 in April from +0.32 in March, according to a news release on the website of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Tuesday.

Of the 85 economic indicators that are included in the CFNAI, 50 individual indicators made positive contributions to the CFNAI in April, while 35 made negative contributions.

To be specific, 35 indicators improved from March to April, while 50 indicators deteriorated. Of the indicators that improved, eight made negative contributions.

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago attributed the little change of CFNAI to slower growth in employment related indicators and personal consumption related indicators.

Employment-related indicators contributed +0.10 to the CFNAI in April, up from +0.04 in March. The civilian unemployment rate decreased to 3.9 percent in April from 4.1 percent in March.

The contribution of the personal consumption and housing category to the CFNAI edged down to -0.05 in April from +0.02 in March.

Housing starts decreased to 1,287,000 annualized units in April from 1,336,000 in March, and housing permits decreased to 1,352,000 annualized units in April from 1,377,000 in the previous month.

However, production-related indicators contributed +0.27 to the CFNAI in April, up from +0.19 in March.

Manufacturing industrial production increased by 0.5 percent in April after being unchanged in March. The sales, orders, and inventories category made a contribution of +0.02 to the CFNAI in April, down slightly from +0.08 in March.

CFNAI is a weighted average of 85 existing monthly indicators of national economic activity. It is constructed to have an average value of zero and a standard deviation of one.

As economic activity tends toward trend growth rate over time, a positive index reading corresponds to growth above trend and a negative index reading corresponds to growth below trend. Enditem