WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago on Monday showed US economic activity slowed in August as production-related measures eased and employment indicators rose moderately.
The Chicago Fed’s National Activity Index was neutral last month after an upwardly revised 0.29 in July. The index was earlier reported at 0.27 in July. It was at 0.08 last year.
The zero value of the monthly index was associated with the expansion of the national economy in its historical trend.
Three of the four broad categories of indicators used to create the index made positive contributions in August, but three deteriorated from July.
Production-related indicators were at -0.08, down from 0.12 in July. Employment-related measures came in at 0.03, down from 0.12 in July.
The index’s least volatile three-month moving average rose to 0.01 in August from -0.08 in July. Periods of economic growth have historically been associated with values
The three-month moving average is above minus 0.70.
The economy is slowing down under the weight of aggressive monetary tightening from the Federal Reserve. Last week, the US central bank raised the interest rate by 75 basis points, the third consecutive increase of this size. He pointed to more big increases to come this year.
Since March, the Fed has raised its policy rate from nearly zero to its current range of 3.0% to 3.25%, raising the risk of a recession next year.
