Last week the American Chemistry Council released its third monthly report of the Chemical Activity Barometer. The CAB is a respected indicator of the economy, bringing together information on the activity of the chemical industry. Last month the CAB went up by 0.4 percent over the month before, and is the second monthly increase the CAB. The consistent upward movement of the CAB seems to indicate a slow emergence of growth, hopefully which will see out the year.
"The August CAB data indicates gradual economic growth, similar to what we saw in July, driven primarily by improving equity prices and positive trends in construction and light vehicle related chemical production," said Dr. Kevin Swift, chief economist at the American Chemistry Council. "This uptick in growth follows three consecutive months of decline and is comparable to patterns observed in 2010 and 2011. The CAB is back at its May 2012 level and is over one percent higher than it was a year ago."