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Economy in Brief
Japan's Inflation Shows Mixed Gains
Japan's inflation rose by 0.4% in July...
U.S. Existing Home Sales Continue to Fall in July
Existing home sales declined 5.9% (-20.2% y/y) in July to 4.810 million units...
U.S. Index of Leading Indicators Fell Again in July
The Conference Board's Composite Leading Economic Indicators Index fell 0.4% m/m...
U.S. Philly Fed General Activity Index Back to Positive Reading in August
The current general activity diffusion index rose nearly 19 points in August to 6.2...
U.S. Unemployment Claims Slightly Lower
Initial claims for unemployment insurance went down 2,000 in the week ended August 13 to 250,000...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller April 18, 2005
The 1Q '05 Composite Business Index published by the Manufacturers' Alliance/MAPI improved slightly to 71 from 70 the prior quarter.
Since 1992 there has been a 68% correlation between the Composite Index Level and quarterly growth in factory sector output.
The current orders index improved a point to 90. The export orders index also nudged up a point to 90, but that was a new record level.
The profit margins index slipped modestly for the second quarter but remained near a record level and capital spending intentions for the coming year fell modestly.
For the latest press release from the MAPI click here. 
| Manufacturers' Alliance/MAPI Survey | 1Q '05 | 4Q '04 | 1Q '04 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Composite Business Index | 71 | 70 | 78 | 76 | 67 | 60 |
