Business Week Index

Business Week Index

BusinessWeek Index

PRODUCTION INDICATORS

Latest Week % Change

week ago year ago

STEEL (12/11) thous. of net tons 1,850 1,856 # 9.2

AUTOS (12/11) units 148,301 149,084 r# 6.4

TRUCKS (12/11) units 110,404 112,054 r# 11.6

ELECTRIC POWER (12/11) millions

of kilowatt-hours 57,784 57,218 # -5.4

CRUDE-OIL REFINING (12/11)

thous. of bbl./day 13,693 13,846 # 4.1

COAL (12/4) thous. of net tons 18,207 # 15,110 -8.4

PAPERBOARD (12/4) thous. of tons 819.4 # 832.1 r 1.5

PAPER (12/4) thous. of tons 801.0 # 811.0 r 2.4

LUMBER (12/4) millions of ft. 467.2 # 309.4 -3.6

RAIL FREIGHT (12/4) billions of

ton-miles 22.8 # 17.8 2.7

Sources: American Iron & Steel Institute, Ward's Automotive Reports, Edison

Electric Institute, American Petroleum Institute, Energy Dept., American Paper

Institute, WWPA1, SFPA2, Association of American Railroads

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

Latest Week Year

week ago ago

JAPANESE YEN (12/15) 110 109 123

GERMAN MARK (12/15) 1.71 1.71 1.57

BRITISH POUND (12/15) 1.48 1.49 1.57

FRENCH FRANC (12/15) 5.86 5.87 5.35

CANADIAN DOLLAR (12/15) 1.33 1.32 1.27

SWISS FRANC (12/15) 1.47 1.47 1.41

MEXICAN PESO (12/15)3 3.113 3.104 3.118

Sources: Major New York banks. Currencies expressed in units per U.S. dollar,

except for British pound expressed in dollars

PRICES

Latest Week % Change

week ago year ago

GOLD (12/15) $/troy oz. 385.600 382.300 14.3

STEEL SCRAP (12/14) #1 heavy, $/ton 139.00 137.50 50.3

FOODSTUFFS (12/14) index, 1967=100 221.7 222.3 8.7

COPPER (12/11) /lb. 82.0 74.5 -20.4

ALUMINUM (12/11) /lb. 52.3 50.8 -4.1

WHEAT (12/11) #2 hard, $/bu. 3.93 3.85 4.0

COTTON (12/11) strict low middling

1-1/16 in., /lb. 69.95 59.14 33.0

Sources: London Wednesday final setting, Chicago market, Commodity Research

Bureau, Metals Week, Kansas City market, Memphis market

LEADING INDICATORS

Latest Month % Change

month ago year ago

STOCK PRICES (12/10) S&P 500 465.52 462.80 7.0

CORPORATE BOND YIELD, Aaa (12/10) 6.86% 6.95% -14.3

INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS PRICES (12/10) 93.5 93.4 -3.6

BUSINESS FAILURES (11/29) 360 320 -21.2

REAL ESTATE LOANS (11/27) billions $408.4 $405.7 r 1.1

MONEY SUPPLY, M2 (11/25) billions $3,513.4 $3,513.8 r 1.4

INITIAL CLAIMS, UNEMPLOYMENT (11/23)

thous. 322 338 -0.9

Sources: Standard & Poor's, Moody's, Journal of Commerce (index: 1980=100), Dun

& Bradstreet (failures of large companies), Federal Reserve Board, Labor Dept.

CIBCR seasonally adjusts data on business failures and real estate loans

MONTHLY ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Latest Month % Change

month ago year ago

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX (Nov.) 145.8 145.5 2.7

RETAIL SALES (Nov.) billions $178.9 $178.2r 7.1

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION (Nov.) total index 113.2 112.2 4.4

CAPACITY UTILIZATION (Nov.) 83.0% 82.4% 2.7

Sources: BLS, Census Bureau, Federal Reserve Board

MONETARY INDICATORS

Latest Week % Change

week ago year ago

MONEY SUPPLY, M1 (11/29) $1,127.3 $1,124.4 r 10.5

BANKS' BUSINESS LOANS (12/1) 273.5 272.4 r -2.8

FREE RESERVES (12/8) 1,154 1,013 r 54.7

NONFINANCIAL COMMERCIAL PAPER (12/1) 159.4 159.7 5.6

Sources: Federal Reserve Board (in billions, except for free reserves, which

are expressed for a two-week period in millions)

MONEY MARKET RATES

Latest Week Year

week ago ago

FEDERAL FUNDS (12/14) 2.95% 2.67% 2.93%

PRIME (12/15) 6.00 6.00 6.00

COMMERCIAL PAPER 3-MONTH (12/14) 3.35 3.42 3.68

CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT 3-MONTH (12/15) 3.25 3.33 3.44

EURODOLLAR 3-MONTH (12/10) 3.33 3.38 3.54

Sources: Federal Reserve Board, First Boston

#Raw data in the production indicators are seasonally adjusted in computing the

BW index (chart); other components (estimated and not listed) include machinery

and defense equipment.

1 = Western Wood Products Assn. 2 = Southern Forest Products Assn. 3 = Free

market value NA = Not available r = revised NM = Not meaningful