Abstract:
The Northwest Indiana Coincident Index grew by 0.5 points to 144.0 in January, an increase of 0.35%. Despite the slight upward revision of the end-of-quarter employment numbers, January saw approximately 5,000 jobs lost, as part of a typical seasonal trend. Counterbalancing this were continued growth in steel production (+7.7% month-over-month) and a 5.6% increase in retail sales from one year ago. Meanwhile, average manufacturing hours worked per week held steady over January at 41.9, having changed little over the previous year.
