Crude oil inventories have been trending sharply higher since the beginning of the year. Excluding the strategic petroleum reserve, stocks of crude oil recorded 479,012,000 barrels per week at the end of 2016.

The CFNAI rebounded sharply in February rising to 0.34 from January’s disappointing -0.02.

Total light vehicle, (LV) sales in January were at an annual rate, of 17.349 M units, down 0.805 million (M) from December and down 0.878 M year on year (y/y). Light truck sales continue to record strong sales of 11.028 M in January, flat y/y.

The total number of seasonally adjusted (SA), non-farm people employed in the US in February 2017 was 145,798,000. This figure was up 235,000 month on month (0.16%) and by 2,251,000 (+1.61%) year on year.

New filings for unemployment insurance benefits moved up 20,000 to 243,000 for the week ending March 4^th, while the four week moving average was 236,500.

After recording a +0.18 reading in December, the CFNAI fell 0.05 points in January because of decreases in production-related indicators. The Chicago Fed National Activity Index is a coincident indicator of broad economic activity. It is released monthly by the Chicago Reserve Board.