The Chicago Business Barometer, also known as the Chicago PMI, registered at 44.1 in September, its first decline in three months after a 48.7 reading in August.
Economists were expecting a reading of 47, according to a Wall Street Journal poll.
Any number below 50 indicates a contraction in activity, and the index has been stuck below 50 since September of last year.
The index is produced by the ISM-Chicago with MNI, and is released to subscribers three minutes before its release to the public at 9:45 am Eastern. It is the last of the regional economic activity indices before the national ISM data for September is released on Monday.
Regional manufacturing surveys have been mixed of late, with the Philadelphia Fed’s gauge of regional business activity falling into negative territory in September, while the New York Fed’s Empire State business conditions index rose sharply, denoting improving economic conditions.
U.S. stocks were rising early Friday, with the S&P 500
SPX
and Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA
posting modest gains.
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