Chicago Business Activity Falls Back Again in December
December 29 2023 - 9:29AM
Dow Jones News
By Joshua Kirby
Business activity slumped in the Chicago area in December,
largely wiping out the previous month's unexpected rise, according
to a purchasing managers' index for the region.
The Chicago Business Barometer fell to 46.9 from 55.8 in
November, data from a survey compiled by MNI indicators showed
Friday. The reading marks a notably sharper fall than the slide to
50.0 expected by economists in a poll carried out by The Wall
Street Journal.
The index had surged in November, a rise mostly erased by this
month's fall, though the index remains a little above the point it
reached in October and in September.
The barometer is compiled through surveys of firms in the
Chicago area in order to assess business conditions and components
including new orders, order backlogs, production, supplier
deliveries and employment.
All main components of the index declined in December.
Production fell back, though it remained in expansion territory,
but order backlogs crashed by more than 13 points to reach its
third lowest point in around three years, MNI said. New orders and
inventories similarly fell.
With activity cooling, the employment index also fell by nearly
nine points, returning to contraction after two months of
expansion.
Write to Joshua Kirby at joshua.kirby@wsj.com;
@joshualeokirby
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 29, 2023 10:14 ET (15:14 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.