CAB Sees Seasonal Upswing

The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), a leading economic indicator created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC), continued to improve, with a 0.2% gain over July as measured on a three-month moving average. This represented a deceleration from the 0.4% gain in July and an average gain of 0.5% for the first six months of 2014.

Despite the slower pace of gains, the August CAB marked a string of gains going back to April 2013. Though the pace of growth has slowed, current gains have the CAB up 4.3% over this time last year, and the barometer remains at its highest level since January 2008.

“Consistent with other recent economic reports, including the Conference Board and the Chicago Fed National Activity Index, the Chemical Activity Barometer continues to point to a slowly expanding US economy, at least through the first quarter of 2015,” said Dr. Kevin Swift, chief economist at ACC. “What makes the CAB unique, however, is its lead time in predicting the ebbs and flows of the economy.”