The economy of the greater Chicago region grew a bit faster in December despite new stress caused by the omicron strain of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
The Chicago Business Barometer, also known as the Chicago PMI, rose to 63.1 this month from 61.8 in in November. Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had forecast a reading of 62.
The region’s economy is still quite robust. Any reading above 50 signals growth, and numbers above 60 are considered exceptional.
The index is viewed as a good weathervane for U.S. manufacturing and the broader American economy given the diverse mix of Chicago regional businesses surveyed.
The one negative: Employment fell again to the lowest level since June, reflecting an ongoing labor shortage in the U.S. that’s making it harder for companies to operate.
“Firms stated that finding new hires to fill empty positions is challenging,” the report said.
The survey is produced by the ISM-Chicago with the Evanston, Ill.–based media company MNI. It is released to subscribers three minutes before its release to the public at 9:45 am Eastern time.
The Chicago PMI is the last of the regional manufacturing indexes before national ISM data for November are released on Tuesday. The ISM report has also been quite strong for most of the past year.
Stocks
DJIA,
SPX,
held on to modest gains after the Chicago PMI report.
