Chemical Activity Barometer Shows Third Monthly Gain in May
The CAB has four main components, each consisting of a variety of indicators: production, equity prices, product prices, and inventories and other indicators.
The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), an economic indicator created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC), rose 0.4% in May 2019 on a three-month moving average basis, the third monthly gain after several weak months. On a year-over-year basis, the barometer is up 0.5%.
The unadjusted measure of the CAB retreated 0.2% in May, with weakness centered in equity prices, and rose 0.7% in April. The diffusion index was steady at 65% in May. The diffusion index marks the number of positive contributors relative to the total number of indicators monitored. The CAB reading for April was revised upward by 0.27 points and that for March by 0.13 points.