Business Week Index

BusinessWeek Index

PRODUCTION INDICATORS

LATEST WEEK YEARLY

WEEK AGO % CHG

STEEL (8/26) thous. of net tons 1,904 1,873# 2.9

AUTOS (8/26) units 113,526 97,391r# -1.9

TRUCKS (8/26) units 113,587 109,374r# -1.7

ELECTRIC POWER (8/26)

millions of kilowatt-hrs. 73,896 79,332# 9.9

CRUDE-OIL REFINING (8/26)

thous. of bbl./day 14,183 14,157# -1.6

COAL (8/19) thous. of net tons 19,873# 19,853 -2.8

PAPERBOARD (8/19) thous. of tons 883.2# 892.8r 0.5

PAPER (8/19) thous. of tons 835.0# 849.0r -1.6

LUMBER (8/19) millions of ft. 452.1# 438.7 -4.4

RAIL FREIGHT (8/19)

billions of ton-miles 24.4# 24.2 2.1

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 (8/25) S&P 500 558.47 559.31 19.4

CORPORATE BOND YIELD, Aaa (8/25) 7.60% 7.64% -6.5

INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS PRICES (8/25) 114.9 113.8 NA*

BUSINESS FAILURES (8/18) NA NA NA

REAL ESTATE LOANS (8/16) billions $493.5 $492.8r 11.9

MONEY SUPPLY, M2 (8/14) billions $3,699.3 $3,695.9r 3.4

INITIAL CLAIMS, UNEMPLOYMENT

(8/12) thous. 338 332 4.0

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 (8/30) $/troy oz. 381.650 382.750 -0.8

STEEL SCRAP (8/29) #1 heavy, $/ton 146.50 146.50 8.9

COPPER (8/25) cents/lb. 142.5 143.4 25.8

ALUMINUM (8/25) cents/lb. 88.0 88.8 22.2

COTTON (8/25) strict low

middling 1-1/16 in., cents/lb. 89.77 84.99 27.8

OIL (8/29) $/bbl. 17.92 18.54 2.1

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

market, NYMEX

INTEREST RATES

LATEST WEEK YEAR

WEEK AGO AGO

FEDERAL FUNDS (8/29) 5.48% 5.68% 4.72%

COMMERCIAL PAPER (8/29) 3-month 5.80 5.83 4.90

CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT (8/30) 3-month 5.76 5.78 4.88

FIXED MORTGAGE (8/25) 30-year 8.10 8.20 8.70

ADJUSTABLE MORTGAGE (8/25) one-year 5.92 6.05 5.61

PRIME (8/30) 8.75 8.75 7.75

Sources: Federal Reserve, HSH Associates, Reuters Holdings PLC

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

LATEST WEEK YEAR

WEEK AGO AGO

JAPANESE YEN (8/30) 98.80 96.36 99.80

GERMAN MARK (8/30) 1.48 1.48 1.58

BRITISH POUND (8/30) 1.54 1.54 1.55

FRENCH FRANC (8/30) 5.07 5.07 5.39

ITALIAN LIRA (8/30) 1626.4 1617.5 1581.3

CANADIAN DOLLAR (8/30) 1.34 1.36 1.37

MEXICAN PESO (8/30)3 6.298 6.270 3.384

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