Activity: Index and October

activity: The October reading still shows U.S. economic growth running below its potential, according to Market Watch. And the index three-month moving average, which tends to offer a clearer picture of the trend in economic activity than the monthly reading alone, weakened to negative 0.27 in October from a revised negative 0.20 in September. The Chicago Fed national activity index rose to negative 0.08 in October from negative 0.23 in September as factory production, housing and consumer spending, as well as the business orders that make up the index mostly improved; employment had a neutral effect. The weaker three-month average is indicating inflationary pressure from U.S. economic activity will be limited, said Bernard Yaros, economist with Moody Economy. The Chicago Fed index is a weighted average of 85 different economic indicators, designed so that zero represents trend growth and a three-month average below negative 0.70 suggests a recession has begun. Financial markets SPX, 0.22% are becoming increasingly interested in clues on the pace of potential hikes in 2017 in inflation data. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.