Business Week Index

BusinessWeek Index

PRODUCTION AND LEADING INDEXES

The production index increased during the week ended Jan. 7. Seasonally

adjusted output of crude-oil refining and rail-freight traffic led the gain.

Before calculation of the four-week moving average, the index rose to 121, from

120.8.

The leading index also advanced during the latest week paced by faster growth

rates for materials prices and real estate loans. The unaveraged index

increased to 254.6, from 253 in the previous week.

BW production index copyright 1994 Bloomberg L.P.

BW leading index copyright 1994 by CIBCR

PRODUCTION INDICATORS

LATEST WEEK YEARLY

WEEK AGO % CHG

STEEL (1/14) thous. of net tons 2,035 1,985# 7.6

AUTOS (1/14) units 126,386 109,340r# -7.5

TRUCKS (1/14) units 101,237 84,941r# -8.7

ELECTRIC POWER (1/14)

millions of kilowatt-hrs. NA 63,158# NA

CRUDE-OIL REFINING (1/14)

thous. of bbl./day 13,847 14,336# 2.7

COAL (1/7) thous. of net tons 17,702# 16,047 -3.3

PAPERBOARD (1/7) thous. of tons NA NA NA

PAPER (1/7) thous. of tons NA NA NA

LUMBER (1/7) millions of ft. 364.5# 308.9 -23.2

RAIL FREIGHT (1/7)

billions of ton-miles 19.5# 19.3 -5.3

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

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

& Paper Association, WWPA1, SFPA2, Association of American Railroads

LEADING INDICATORS

LATEST WEEK YEARLY

WEEK AGO % CHG

STOCK PRICES (1/13) S&P 500 462.36 460.21 -2.5

CORPORATE BOND YIELD,

Aaa (1/13) 8.46% 8.51% 23.1

INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS

PRICES (1/13) 114.3 113.3r NA*

BUSINESS FAILURES (1/6) NA 278 NA

REAL ESTATE LOANS (1/4)

billions $459.8 $456.6 9.0

MONEY SUPPLY, M2 (1/2)

billions $3,571.1 $3,570.6r 0.9

INITIAL CLAIMS,

UNEMPLOYMENT (12/31) thous. 338 321 -4.8

Sources: Center for International Business Cycle Research (CIBCR), Standard &

Poor's, Moody's, Journal of Commerce (index: 1990=100), Dun & Bradstreet

(failures of large companies), Federal Reserve, Labor Dept. CIBCR seasonally

adjusts data on business failures and real estate loans. *Historical data

available from CIBCR.

PRICES

LATEST WEEK YEARLY

WEEK AGO % CHG

GOLD (1/18) $/troy oz. 382.600 375.600 -2.2

STEEL SCRAP (1/17)

#1 heavy, $/ton 147.00 144.00 5.4

COPPER (1/14) cents/lb. 144.0 139.9 67.5

ALUMINUM (1/14) cents/lb. 98.0 96.5 75.0

COTTON (1/14) strict

low middling 1-1/16 in.,

cents/lb. 87.34 86.12 35.0

OIL (1/17) $/bbl. 18.35 17.42 20.7

Sources: London Wednesday final setting, Chicago market, Metals Week, Memphis

market, NYMEX

INTEREST RATES

LATEST WEEK YEAR

WEEK AGO AGO

FEDERAL FUNDS (1/17) 5.69% 5.44% 3.13%

COMMERCIAL PAPER (1/17)

3-month 6.09 6.18 3.18

CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT (1/18)

3-month 6.22 6.18 3.12

FIXED MORTGAGE (1/13) 30-year 9.35 9.39 7.09

ADJUSTABLE MORTGAGE (1/13)

one-year 6.88 6.85 4.25

PRIME (1/18) 8.50 8.50 6.00

Sources: Federal Reserve, HSH Associates, Reuters Holdings PLC

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

LATEST WEEK YEAR

WEEK AGO AGO

JAPANESE YEN (1/18) 99.52 99.88 110.60

GERMAN MARK (1/18) 1.53 1.54 1.74

BRITISH POUND (1/18) 1.57 1.56 1.50

FRENCH FRANC (1/18) 5.29 5.30 5.92

ITALIAN LIRA (1/18) 1616.5 1624.0 1696.8

CANADIAN DOLLAR (1/18) 1.42 1.41 1.31

MEXICAN PESO (1/18)3 5.300 5.725 3.103

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

except for British pound in dollars

#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