This week we received more evidence confirming that the U.S. economy has returned to positive, but still disappointing, growth.
Data source: Wardsauto.com
Seasonally unadjusted U.S. light vehicle sales in April were up 20% from the previous year, but down 8% from March and down 26% from April 2007. So we've bounced off the bottom but are still less than halfway back up to where we were. Here are the seasonally adjusted estimates:
Source: Calculated Risk
The Chicago Fed's national activity index edged back up for March, but still can't break into positive territory.
Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
The Institute for Supply Management PMI manufacturing index is looking very good, rising to 60.4 for April, the highest it's been in almost six years. A value above 50 means that managers reporting improvements outnumbered those reporting declines.
Source: FRED
All of which confirms the impression from earlier data-- U.S. growth has resumed, but we still have a long way to go.
http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2010/05/the_sluggish_re.html
