The U.S. economy remains in a state of moderately slow growth despite recent activity in the equity markets, and the signals indicate that slow growth will continue into late 2013, according to the June Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB) from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com).
The CAB increased 0.3% during the month of June on a three-month-moving-average basis, and followed a gain of 0.1% in May. The CAB has seen gains in 11 consecutive months, although April and May readings were revised downward, ACC said in its Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report, where the data were contained. The June CAB reading of this year is 3.5% higher than June 2012.
The U.S. Chemical Production Regional Index (CPRI) edged higher in May, by 0.1%, following a downwardly revised 0.2% decline in April, according to ACC. In May, the Ohio Valley, Mid-Altlantic, Northeast and Southeast region saw gains. Chemical production in the Gulf Coast, Midwest and West Coast was flat, the report says.
Meanwhile, the Global CPRI rose 0.4% in May, an improvement over April and over the average of the first quarter, the ACC report states.
The week’s reports from the wider economy were mostly positive, the ACC report comments.