CHICAGO, May 20 (Xinhua) -- The Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) fell to -0.45 in April from +0.05 in March, led by declines in production-related indicators.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported on Monday three of the four broad categories of indicators that make up the index decreased from March, and two of the four categories made negative contributions to the index in April.
The contribution from production-related indicators to the CFNAI declined to -0.44 in April from -0.04 in March. Industrial production decreased 0.5 percent in April after increasing 0.2 percent in March. The sales, orders, and inventories category made a contribution of +0.01 to the CFNAI in April, down from +0.06 in March.
Employment-related indicators contributed +0.04 to the CFNAI in April, up slightly from +0.03 in March. The civilian unemployment rate fell to 3.6 percent in April from 3.8 percent in March. The contribution of the personal consumption and housing category to the CFNAI moved down to -0.05 in April from a neutral value in March. On balance, consumption indicators weakened, pushing down the category's overall contribution in April.
The CFNAI is a monthly index designed to gauge overall economic activity and related inflationary pressure. The index is a weighted average of 85 indicators of growth in national economic activity drawn from four broad categories of data: production and income; employment, unemployment, and hours; personal consumption and housing; and sales, orders, and inventories.
