Business Week Index

Business Week Index

BusinessWeek Index

The production index increased modestly during the week ended Nov. 23. Beforecalculation of the four-week moving average, the index also continued to showmore strength by climbing to 134.2, from 132.9. Seasonally adjusted outputlevels of autos and trucks were up strongly, but electric power and crude-oilrefining production were flat for the week.The leading index will be unavailable for an indefinite period of time.BW production index copyright 1996 Bloomberg L.P.PRODUCTION INDICATORS

LATEST WEEK YEARLY

WEEK AGO% CHG

STEEL (11/30) thous. of net tons 1,946 1,914 # 1.0

AUTOS (11/30) units 80,995 132,427 r# -36.0

TRUCKS (11/30) units 78,094 128,896 r# -37.6

ELECTRIC POWER (11/30) millions of

kilowatt-hrs. NA 62,142 # NA

CRUDE-OIL REFINING (11/30) thous. of

bbl./day 14,304 14,310 # 0.6

COAL (11/23) thous. of net tons 21,677 # 20,922 23.3

LUMBER (11/23) millions of ft. 484.5 # 483.6 77.5

RAIL FREIGHT (11/23) billions of

ton-miles 26.8 # 26.4 27.0

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

Electric Institute, American Petroleum Institute, Energy Dept., WWPA1, SFPA2,

Association of American Railroads

LEADING INDICATORS

LATEST WEEK YEARLY

WEEK AGO% CHG

STOCK PRICES (11/29) S&P 500 757.02 748.73 25.0

CORPORATE BOND YIELD, Aaa (11/29) 7.06% 7.05%r 1.3

INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS PRICES (11/29) 107.2 106.9 -3.6

BUSINESS FAILURES (11/22) NA NA NA

REAL ESTATE LOANS (11/20) billions NA NA NA

MONEY SUPPLY, M2 (11/18) billions $3,796.9 $3,792.0 r 4.2

INITIAL CLAIMS, UNEMPLOYMENT (11/23)

thous. 342 342 r -6.8

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

& Bradstreet (failures of large companies), Federal Reserve, Labor Dept.

INTEREST RATES

LATEST WEEK YEARLY

WEEK AGO % CHG

GOLD (12/4) $/troy oz. 370.900 373.500 -4.2

STEEL SCRAP (12/3) #1 heavy, $/ton 116.50 116.50 -13.4

COPPER (11/29) cents/lb. 111.5 109.0 -19.0

ALUMINUM (11/29) cents/lb. 72.0 72.4 -8.3

COTTON (11/30) strict low middling

1-1/16 in., cents/lb. 71.27 70.68 -14.8

OIL (12/3) $/bbl. 23.73 23.65 r 27.2

CRB FOODSTUFFS (12/3) 1967=100 228.20 230.92 r -7.5

CRB RAW INDUSTRIALS (12/3) 1967=100 332.78 335.78 r -1.2

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

market, NYMEX, Commodity Research Bureau

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

LATEST WEEK YEAR

WEEK AGO AGO

JAPANESE YEN (12/4) 113.24 112.55 101.40

GERMAN MARK (12/4) 1.57 1.53 1.45

BRITISH POUND (12/4) 1.64 1.67 1.53

FRENCH FRANC (12/4) 5.29 5.17 4.98

ITALIAN LIRA (12/4) 1537.5 1514.5 1589.9

CANADIAN DOLLAR (12/4) 1.35 1.34 1.37

MEXICAN PESO (12/4)*** 7.860 7.876 7.730

TRADE-WEIGHTED DOLLAR INDEX (12/4) 98.9 97.7 94.9

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

except for British pound in dollars. Trade-weighted dollar via J.P. Morgan.

INTEREST RATES

LATEST WEEK YEAR

WEEK AGO AGO

FEDERAL FUNDS (12/3) 5.09% 5.38% 5.75%

COMMERCIAL PAPER (12/4) 3-month 5.42 5.41 5.67

CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT (12/4) 3-month 5.39 5.38 5.67

FIXED MORTGAGE (11/29) 30-year 7.71 7.76 7.43

ADJUSTABLE MORTGAGE (11/29) one-year 5.66 5.75 5.62

PRIME (12/3) 8.25 8.25 8.75

Sources: Federal Reserve, HSH Associates, Bloomberg Financial Markets

#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. ***=Free market value NA=Not available r=revised NM=Not

meaningful

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