U.S. Economy Picked Up Pace Last Month, Chicago Fed Survey Suggests

By Joshua Kirby

U.S. economic activity rebounded last month as manufacturing reversed previous declines, according to an index published Tuesday by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index rose to 0.18 in May from a downwardly revised minus 0.26 in April, boosted by better signals in production that moved to positive from negative territory. By contrast, sales, orders and inventories deteriorated while the categories of personal-consumption and housing, and employment improved but remained below the level of making a positive contribution to overall activity.

The index's three-month moving average fell back to minus 0.09 in May from minus 0.05 in April, meanwhile, highlighting weakness in the economy in earlier months.

The CFNAI diffusion index--which captures how much the change in the monthly index is spread among the indicators over three months--also decreased marginally to minus 0.16 from minus 0.13 in April. Periods of economic expansion have historically been associated with values of the CFNAI Diffusion Index above minus 0.35.

Write to Joshua Kirby at joshua.kirby@wsj.com; @joshualeokirby

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 25, 2024 08:44 ET (12:44 GMT)

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