Business Week Index

BusinessWeek Index

PRODUCTION AND LEADING INDEXES

The production index fell during the week ended Feb. 25. But before calculation

of the four-week moving average, the index rose to 122.4, from a revised 121.7.

Stronger coal, steel, and paper output and rail-freight traffic led the

increase.

The leading index was nearly unchanged for the latest week. The unaveraged

index, at 254.2, also moved very little compared with the previous week's

reading of 254.3.

BW production index copyright 1994 Bloomberg L.P. BW leading index

copyright 1994 by CIBCR

PRODUCTION INDICATORS

LATEST WEEK YEARLY

WEEK AGO % CHG

STEEL (3/4) thous. of net tons 1,997 2,046# 6.3

AUTOS (3/4) units 141,000 146,490r# -4.2

TRUCKS (3/4) units 119,483 118,238r# 3.3

ELECTRIC POWER (3/4) millions of kilowatt-hrs. 60,720 58,157# 2.4

CRUDE-OIL REFINING (3/4) thous. of bbl./day 13,647 13,334# 6.8

COAL (2/25) thous. of net tons 23,079# 21,024 6.1

PAPERBOARD (2/25) thous. of tons 934.0# 943.6r 5.3

PAPER (2/25) thous. of tons 855.0# 845.0r 1.9

LUMBER (2/25) millions of ft. 432.3# 437.7 -12.4

RAIL FREIGHT (2/25) billions of ton-miles 24.7# 23.6 8.3

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 (3/3) S&P 500 485.48 485.71 4.4

CORPORATE BOND YIELD, Aaa (3/3) 8.15% 8.23% 10.7

INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS PRICES (3/3) 113.0 113.1 NA*

BUSINESS FAILURES (2/24) NA 301 NA

REAL ESTATE LOANS (2/22) billions $467.1 $466.6r 11.6

MONEY SUPPLY, M2 (2/20) billions $3,585.8 $3,588.5r 1.7

INITIAL CLAIMS, UNEMPLOYMENT (2/18) thous. 344 348r -8.3

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 (3/8) $/troy oz. 380.000 375.700 0.9

STEEL SCRAP (3/7) #1 heavy, $/ton 141.50 142.50 1.4

COPPER (3/4) cents/lb. 136.5 138.5 49.6

ALUMINUM (3/4) cents/lb. 87.5 92.3 42.3

COTTON (3/4) strict low middling 1-1/16 in., cents/lb. 101.39 96.25 38.6

OIL (3/7) $/bbl. 18.62 18.56 31.1

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

market, NYMEX

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

LATEST WEEK YEAR

WEEK AGO AGO

JAPANESE YEN (3/8) 90.48 96.76 105.13

GERMAN MARK (3/8) 1.38 1.47 1.68

BRITISH POUND (3/8) 1.63 1.58 1.50

FRENCH FRANC (3/8) 4.94 5.15 5.73

ITALIAN LIRA (3/8) 1650.5 1643.5 1666.0

CANADIAN DOLLAR (3/8) 1.41 1.40 1.36

MEXICAN PESO (3/8)3 6.715 5.905 3.270

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

except for British pound in dollars

INTEREST RATES

LATEST WEEK YEAR

WEEK AGO AGO

FEDERAL FUNDS (3/7) 5.93% 6.10% 3.25%

COMMERCIAL PAPER (3/7) 3-month 6.18 6.13 3.84

CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT (3/8) 3-month 6.21 6.13 3.77

FIXED MORTGAGE (3/3) 30-year 8.72 8.88 7.62

ADJUSTABLE MORTGAGE (3/3) one-year 6.51 6.63 4.48

PRIME (3/8) 9.00 9.00 6.00

Sources: Federal Reserve, HSH Associates, Reuters Holdings PLC

#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 availabler=revised NM=Not

meaningful