The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for April climbed to positive 0.10 from a revised negative 0.55 reading in March, while the three-month moving average (CFNAI-MA3) slipped to negative 0.22 from a revised negative 0.18 in March, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported Thursday.
In April 2015, the index was positive 0.17, while the CFNAI-MA3 was negative 0.14 in that month.
The March index was originally reported as negative 0.44, while the CFNAI-MA3 was first reported as negative 0.18.
The reading for the CFNAI-MA3 indicates national economic growth was somewhat below its historical trend, and suggests limited inflationary pressure from economic activity in the coming year, the Chicago Fed said.
The CFNAI diffusion index, also a three-month moving average, narrowed to negative 0.17 from a revised negative 0.22 reading the month before, first reported as negative 0.23. A year ago, the diffusion index was negative 0.10.
The production indicators added 0.19 to CFNAI in the month (compared to a subtraction of 0.39 in the previous month), while employment-related indicators subtracted 0.02 in the month, after a 0.04 subtraction in March, the Fed said.
Personal consumption and housing-related data subtracted 0.07 in the month, after subtracting 0.11 the prior month, while sales, orders and inventories were neutral in the month after taking 0.01 from the index in March.
The index is a weighted average of 85 indicators of national economic activity. A zero value for the index indicates that the national economy is expanding at its historical trend rate of growth; negative values are associated with below-trend growth while positive values indicate above-trend growth.
The index was constructed using data available by May 17, with data for 50 of the 85 indicators having been published by then. The Fed said it used estimates for the missing data.
Overall, 45 of the 85 indicators made positive contributions to the index in the month and 40 made negative contributions. While 54 indicators were better than the previous month, 16 of these still made negative contributions to the index. Also, 31 deteriorated from March to April.
