WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Growth in Chicago-area business activity saw a significant slowdown in the month of March, MNI Indicators revealed in a report released on Friday.
MNI Indicators said its Chicago business barometer tumbled to 58.7 in March after spiking to 64.7 in February.
While a reading above 50 still indicates growth in regional business activity, economists had expected the index to dip to 61.0.
'Although the barometer has comfortably remained above the 50- neutral level for more than two years now, survey evidence points to a slight slowdown since last year,' said Shaily Mittal, Senior Economist at MNI.
She added, 'The Fed's break from monetary tightening amid global uncertainty and softer inflation is seen underpinning optimism in the business environment.'
The steep drop by the business barometer came as the production and new orders indexes pulled back from last month, although they remained appreciably above their January levels.
MNI Indicators said order backlogs shrank the most, with the indicator falling into contraction territory for the first time since January 2017.
The prices paid index also showed a significant decrease, hitting the lowest level since August 2017 but continuing to indicate price growth.
Meanwhile, the employment index increased marginally and is a touch above both the three-month and 12-month averages.
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