Business Activity in U.S. Expanded at a Slower Pace in March
By Shobhana Chandra - Mar 28, 2013
Business activity in the U.S. expanded in March at a slower pace than forecast, a sign the rebound in manufacturing will cool.
The MNI Chicago Report’s business barometer fell to 52.4 this month, the lowest level of the year, from 56.8 in February. A reading greater than 50 signals expansion. The median forecast of 48 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was 56.5.
Manufacturing, which makes up about 12 percent of the economy, may stabilize as some businesses wait for more evidence that sales will hold up in the face of across-the-board cuts in government spending. At the same time, rising consumer purchases led by automobile and home sales will help prevent a decline in investment and inventory rebuilding.
“We could get some short-term weakness,” Josh Dennerlein, an economist at Bank of America Corp. in New York, said before the report. “Some sectors like defense are really going to get beat up” due to the sequestration. Still, “the longer term outlook is much more positive.”
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-28/business-activity-in-u-s-expanded-at-a-slower-pace-in-march.html