Chicago Fed National Activity Index Unexpectedly Rises To +0.05 In February

(RTTNews) – The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago unveiled a report on Monday revealing an unforeseen uptick in its index of U.S. national economic activity.

According to the report, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index surged to a positive 0.05 in February from a revised negative 0.54 in January. A positive figure denotes growth above the average.

This increase caught economists off guard, as they had anticipated the national activity index to dip to a negative 0.50 from the initially reported negative 0.30 for the previous month.

The Chicago Fed noted that all four major categories of indicators utilized to formulate the index experienced growth compared to January, with three categories contributing positively in February.