The economic activity fell to the slowest pace ever during March-April in US and most of the globe, as the lock-down from coronavirus halted everything. As a result, all economic indicators dived lower, with the Chicago FED  falling to -16.74 points, which was revised later to -17.89 points. But, today’s report showed a jump to 2.61 points, which completes the v-shape recovery, bringing it above the pre-covid levels.

The National Metric from the Chicago FED

• Chicago Fed national activity index May +2.61 vs -16.74 prior
• April was -16.74 (revised to -17.89)

“Led by improvements in production- and employment-related indicators, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) rose to +2.61 in May from -17.89 in April. All four broad categories of indicators used to construct the index made positive contributions in May, and all four categories increased from April. The index’s three-month moving average, CFNAI-MA3, moved up to -6.65 in May from -7.50 in April.”