Business Week Index

Business Week Index

BusinessWeek Index

The production index rose slightly in the week ended Mar. 13. The unaveragedindex was up 0.7%, to 142.5, from 141.5 a week ago. After seasonal adjustment,electric power output was up 4.8%, with the largest increases in availableenergy in the New England and Mid-Atlantic regions. Auto, truck, and lumberproduction also increased moderately. Output of steel, coal, oil, andrail-freight traffic declined in the latest week.LEADING INDICATORS LATEST WEEK YEARLY WEEK AGO % CHGECRI LEADING INDEX (3/12) 1992=100 120.3 121.2 0.7STOCK PRICES (3/19) S&P 500 1299.29 1294.59 18.2CORPORATE BOND YIELD, Aaa (3/19) 6.58% 6.58% -1.2MONEY SUPPLY, M2 (3/8) billions $4,441.0 $4,456.7r 7.6INITIAL CLAIMS, UNEMPLOYMENT (3/12) thous. 298 292r -4.2MORTGAGE APPLICATIONS, PURCHASE (3/19) 259.4 246.4 10.8MORTGAGE APPLICATIONS, REFINANCE (3/19) 1,332.6 1,153.3 -6.2Sources: Economic Cycle Research Institute, Standard & Poor's, Moody's,Federal Reserve, Labor Dept., Mortgage Bankers Assn. (Index: March 16,1990=100)INTEREST RATES LATEST WEEK YEAR WEEK AGO AGOFEDERAL FUNDS (3/23) 4.79% 4.77% 5.41%COMMERCIAL PAPER (3/23) 3-month 4.81 4.81 5.48CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT (3/24) 3-month 4.90 4.89 5.58FIXED MORTGAGE (3/19) 30-year 7.03 7.13 7.15ADJUSTABLE MORTGAGE (3/19) one-year 5.83 5.78 5.76PRIME (3/19) 7.75 7.75 8.50Sources: Federal Reserve, HSH Associates, Bloomberg Financial MarketsPRODUCTION INDICATORS

LATEST WEEK YEARLY

WEEK AGO % CHG

STEEL (3/20) thous. of net tons 1,992 1,943# -10.6

AUTOS (3/20) units 126,953 118,315r# 5.3

TRUCKS (3/20) units 155,629 158,895r# 6.5

ELECTRIC POWER (3/20)

millions of kilowatt-hrs. 62,379 65,531# 1.1

CRUDE-OIL REFINING (3/20) thous. of bbl./day 14,083 14,357# -2.0

COAL (3/13) thous. of net tons 20,657# 21,459 2.1

LUMBER (3/13) millions of ft. 527.7# 499.1 11.1

RAIL FREIGHT (3/13) billions of ton-miles 25.8# 26.7 5.7

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

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

Association of American Railroads

PRICES

LATEST WEEK YEARLY

WEEK AGO % CHG

GOLD (3/24) $/troy oz. 284.250 284.700 -5.0

STEEL SCRAP (3/23) #1 heavy, $/ton 78.00 77.00 -42.4

COPPER (3/19) cents/lb. 64.9 65.9 -22.6

ALUMINUM (3/19) cents/lb. 57.8 57.0 -17.2

COTTON (3/19) strict

low middling 1-1/16 in., cents/lb. 60.56 60.87 -10.7

OIL (3/23) $/bbl. 15.17 14.16 -1.5

CRB FOODSTUFFS (3/23) 1967=100 192.94 189.61 -16.3

CRB RAW INDUSTRIALS (3/23) 1967=100 258.20 252.74 -15.1

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

market, NYMEX, Commodity Research Bureau

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

LATEST WEEK YEAR

WEEK AGO AGO

BRAZILIAN REAL (3/24) 1.8375 1.8800 1.1353

BRITISH POUND (3/24) 1.64 1.63 1.38

CANADIAN DOLLAR (3/24) 1.50 1.52 1.41

EUROPEAN EURO (3/24) 1.0888 1.1002 NA

JAPANESE YEN (3/24) 117.94 118.28 128.91

KOREAN WON (3/24) 1222.6 1228.7 1385.0

MEXICAN PESO (3/24)3 9.675 9.663 8.522

TRADE-WEIGHTED DOLLAR INDEX (3/24) 108.4 108.7 109.6

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

except for British Pound and European Euro in dollars. Trade-weighted dollar

via J.P. Morgan.

#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

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