Business Week Index

Business Week Index

BusinessWeek Index

PRODUCTION INDICATORS

LATEST WEEK YEARLY

WEEK AGO % CHG

STEEL (9/16) thous. of net tons 1,965 1,984# 12.7

AUTOS (9/16) units 115,881 102,705r# -12.4

TRUCKS (9/16) units 106,209 94,668r# -11.0

ELECTRIC POWER (9/16)

millions of kilowatt-hrs. 64,211 66,148# 0.6

CRUDE-OIL REFINING (9/16)

thous. of bbl./day 14,529 14,730# 3.3

COAL (9/9) thous. of net tons 19,939# 20,705 4.4

PAPERBOARD (9/9) thous. of tons 823.0# 846.2r -7.9

PAPER (9/9) thous. of tons 839.0# 848.0r 0.0

LUMBER (9/9) millions of ft. 389.9# 457.2 -2.2

RAIL FREIGHT (9/9)

billions of ton-miles 23.2# 25.7 5.9

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 (9/16) S&P 500 579.23 570.58 23.3

CORPORATE BOND YIELD,

Aaa (9/16) 7.29% 7.33% -12.4

INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS

PRICES (9/16) 113.0 113.5 NA*

BUSINESS FAILURES (9/8) 380 332 9.8

REAL ESTATE LOANS (9/6) billions $496.4 $495.4 11.9

MONEY SUPPLY, M2 (9/4) billions $3,714.0 $3,709.6r 3.9

INITIAL CLAIMS,

UNEMPLOYMENT (9/2) thous. 341 348r 3.3

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 (9/20) $/troy oz. 384.500 384.900 -1.7

STEEL SCRAP (9/19)

#1 heavy, $/ton 143.50 143.50 6.7

COPPER (9/15) cents/lb. 133.5 136.2 7.2

ALUMINUM (9/15) cents/lb. 82.0 82.5 5.8

COTTON (9/15) strict low

middling 1-1/16 in., cents/lb. 90.04 88.56 23.7

OIL (9/19) $/bbl. 19.00 18.73 10.5

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

market, NYMEX

INTEREST RATES

LATEST WEEK YEAR

WEEK AGO AGO

FEDERAL FUNDS (9/19) 5.73% 5.65% 4.73%

COMMERCIAL PAPER (9/20) 3-month 5.69 5.72 5.07

CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT

(9/20) 3-month 5.69 5.71 5.08

FIXED MORTGAGE (9/15) 30-year 7.81 7.84 8.80

ADJUSTABLE MORTGAGE

(9/15) one-year 5.90 5.85 5.68

PRIME (9/20) 8.75 8.75 7.75

Sources: Federal Reserve, HSH Associates, Reuters Holdings PLC

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

LATEST WEEK YEAR

WEEK AGO AGO

JAPANESE YEN (9/20) 103.34 102.59 97.74

GERMAN MARK (9/20) 1.47 1.50 1.55

BRITISH POUND (9/20) 1.55 1.55 1.58

FRENCH FRANC (9/20) 5.07 5.15 5.28

ITALIAN LIRA (9/20) 1617.3 1617.0 1565.0

CANADIAN DOLLAR (9/20) 1.36 1.35 1.34

MEXICAN PESO (9/20)3 6.300 6.285 3.408

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