Business Week Index

BusinessWeek Index

PRODUCTION AND LEADING INDEXES

The production index rose in the week ended Jan. 28. Seasonally-adjusted output

of electric power, autos, and trucks led the gain. Before calculation of the

four-week average, the index jumped to 125.3 from 121.9 the week before.

The leading index also increased in the latest week, paced by faster growth in

both materials prices and the M2 money supply. The unaveraged index dipped to

256.9 from 257.5 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 (2/4) thous. of net tons 2,040 2,001# 10.2

AUTOS (2/4) units 139,633 140,384r# -7.8

TRUCKS (2/4) units 118,506 118,763r# -1.8

ELECTRIC POWER (2/4) millions

of kilowatt-hrs. 61,394 62,932# -3.9

CRUDE-OIL REFINING (2/4)

thous. of bbl./day 13,438 13,404# 1.8

COAL (1/28) thous. of net tons 21,269# 21,939 1.1

PAPERBOARD (1/28) thous. of tons 932.8# 907.6r 6.5

PAPER (1/28) thous. of tons 837.0# 841.0r 1.6

LUMBER (1/28) millions of ft. 476.6# 479.6 -2.6

RAIL FREIGHT (1/28)

billions of ton-miles 24.0# 24.0 6.2

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 (2/3) S&P 500 472.15 467.56 -1.4

CORPORATE BOND YIELD, Aaa (2/3) 8.33% 8.49% 20.2

INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS PRICES (2/3) 113.5 114.5 NA*

BUSINESS FAILURES (1/27) NA 266 NA

REAL ESTATE LOANS (1/25) billions $463.2 $463.4r 10.4

MONEY SUPPLY, M2 (1/23) billions $3,590.2 $3,587.6r 1.7

INITIAL CLAIMS, UNEMPLOYMENT

(1/21) thous. 325 338r -10.5

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 (2/8) $/troy oz. 374.600 376.250 -2.4

STEEL SCRAP (2/7) #1 heavy, $/ton 144.50 147.00 3.6

COPPER (2/4) cents/lb. 140.0 146.0 50.9

ALUMINUM (2/4) cents/lb. 101.5 104.0 66.9

COTTON (2/4) strict low

middling 1-1/16 in., cents/lb. 89.50 89.29 23.9

OIL (2/7) $/bbl. 18.43 18.46 26.2

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

market, NYMEX

INTEREST RATES

LATEST WEEK YEAR

WEEK AGO AGO

FEDERAL FUNDS (2/7) 5.94% 6.00% 3.20%

COMMERCIAL PAPER (2/7) 3-month 6.14 6.24 3.50

CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT (2/8) 3-month 6.15 6.23 3.40

FIXED MORTGAGE (2/3) 30-year 9.15 9.32 7.08

ADJUSTABLE MORTGAGE (2/3) one-year 6.76 6.83 4.20

PRIME (2/8) 9.00 9.00 6.00

Sources: Federal Reserve, HSH Associates, Reuters Holdings PLC

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

LATEST WEEK YEAR

WEEK AGO AGO

JAPANESE YEN (2/8) 98.92 99.46 108.08

GERMAN MARK (2/8) 1.53 1.52 1.75

BRITISH POUND (2/8) 1.55 1.58 1.46

FRENCH FRANC (2/8) 5.30 5.28 5.96

ITALIAN LIRA (2/8) 1617.0 1609.0 1695.7

CANADIAN DOLLAR (2/8) 1.40 1.41 1.34

MEXICAN PESO (2/8)3 5.325 5.500 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