Posted August 22, 2011
Index shows economic activity improved in July
Led by improvements in production-related indicators, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index increased to –0.06 in July from –0.38 in June.
Three of the four broad categories of indicators that make up the index improved in July; only the sales, orders, and inventories category deteriorated from June.
Production-related indicators made a contribution of +0.28 to the index in July, up sharply from +0.03 in June. Industrial production increased 0.9 percent in July after rising 0.4 percent in June. Manufacturing production, particularly auto production, rebounded; and manufacturing capacity utilization rose to 75.0 percent in July from 74.6 percent in the previous month.
