The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB) is a leading economic indicator created by the American Chemistry Council. Following December’s 0.1 percent gain, CAB jumped 0.6 percent on a three-month moving average basis in January. The barometer rose 1.4 percent on a year-over-year basis.
Following November’s 0.4 percent gain and December’s 0.5 percent increase, the unadjusted January data showed a 1.0 percent gain.
An increase to 62 percent posted by the diffusion index this month. November’s CAB reading was edited downward by 0.22 points. Meanwhile, the CAB reading revised upward by 0.33 points for December.
The CAB has four main components: production; product prices; equity prices; and inventories and other indicators. Each component in the CAB consists of a variety of indicators.
