The Midwest Economy Index declined to negative 0.17 in November from an unrevised negative 0.14 in October, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said Wednesday.
The relative MEI climbed to positive 0.13 in November from a downwardly revised negative 0.32 in October, first reported as negative 0.23. The relative MEI indicates that growth in the region was slightly higher than what would be expected based on national economic growth.
Manufacturing subtracted 0.18 from the index, after a 0.08 subtraction in October, while subtracting 0.06 from the relative MEI, after a 0.14 subtraction in October.
Construction and mining removed 0.06 in the month, after a 0.10 subtraction in October, while taking 0.01 from the relative MEI index in November after subtracting 0.09 from the index in October.
The service sector took 0.04 from MEI in November after a 0.04 subtraction the prior month, while adding 0.06 to relative MEI after a 0.16 subtraction in October.
Consumer spending added 0.10 to MEI, after adding 0.09 in October, while contributing 0.13 to relative MEI, after a 0.06 addition in October.
By state, Michigan and Indiana made the largest contributions in November, each adding 0.02, while Illinois deleted 0.05, Wisconsin subtracted 0.08, and Iowa subtracted 0.08.
The index is a weighted average of 128 state and regional indicators encompassing the five states in the Seventh Federal Reserve District (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin). The index measures growth in nonfarm business activity.
A zero value for the MEI indicates that the Midwest 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. A zero value for the relative MEI indicates that the Midwest economy is growing at a rate historically consistent with the growth of the national economy; positive values indicate above-average relative growth; and negative values indicate below-average relative growth.
