Business Activity in U.S. Grew More Than Forecast in January
By Shobhana Chandra - Jan 31, 2013 9:59 AM ET
Business activity in the U.S. expanded more than forecast in January, a sign manufacturing picked up at the start of the year.
The MNI Chicago Report’s business barometer rose to 55.6 this month, the highest since April, after 50 in December. A reading of 50 is the dividing line between expansion and contraction. The median forecast of 48 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was 50.5.
A fourth-quarter acceleration in consumer spending may encourage firms to boost orders and production in early 2013, a sign manufacturing will keep adding to growth in the world’s largest economy. The report contrasts with data showing factory activity in the Philadelphia and New York area shrank this month as the risk of automatic government-spending cuts looms.
“We’ll see modest growth in manufacturing in 2013,” Gus Faucher, senior economist at PNC Financial Services Group Inc. in Pittsburgh, said before the report. “My hope is that business investment picks up as we get through the year.”
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-31/business-activity-in-u-s-expanded-more-than-forecast-in-january.html