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Auto-related factory slump dominates sharply weaker Chicago Fed index

February 25, 2019

The numbers: Factory output sank in January, pulling down a broad measure of the U.S. economy issued on Monday by the Chicago Federal Reserve.

The Chicago Fed’s index of national economic activity registered at a negative 0.43 in January, a reversal from a sharply downwardly revised positive 0.05 in December, a figure that had been reported at positive 0.27 initially.

The volatile nature of the monthly data puts added emphasis on following the index’s less-volatile, three-month moving average. It decreased to a neutral reading last month, from a positive 0.16 in December.

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