Chicago Fed national activity index rises in Jan

NEW YORK, Feb 22 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago on Monday
said its gauge of the national economy rose in January to 0.02 from -0.58 in
December. January was its second positive level in the past three months. The
index had been consistently negative from June 2007 to October 2009.

Monthly index:

Jan 10 Dec 09 Nov 09 Oct 09 Sep 09 Jan 09
Current +0.02 -0.58 +0.06 -0.88 -0.93 -4.14
Previous N/A -0.61 -0.39 -0.83 -0.83 -3.80

Three-month moving average:

Jan 10 Dec 09 Nov 09 Oct 09 Sep 09 Jan 09
Current -0.16 -0.47 -0.59 -0.84 -0.61 -3.68
Previous N/A -0.61 -0.68 -0.76 -0.54 -3.64

The three-month moving average indicates subdued inflationary pressure from
economic activity over the coming year, the Chicago Fed said.
Index subcategories:

Contribution to monthly index

in Jan 10 in Dec 09
Employment -0.01 -0.26
Consumption and housing -0.45 -0.49
Production-related +0.45 +0.14
Sales, orders, inventory +0.04 +0.03

NOTES:

Zero values in the index indicate a national economy expanding at
historical trends, while negative values indicate below-trend growth and
positive values signal growth above trend, the Chicago Fed said.

The 85 economic indicators that comprise the Chicago Fed's index are drawn
from four categories: production and income; employment, unemployment and
hours; personal consumption and housing; and sales, orders and inventories.

The three-month moving average provides a more consistent picture of
national economic growth compared to the more volatile monthly index.