Chicago PMI - Jan 2010

While most of the media today focused on the lagging Q4 GDP report, little attention was paid to the foremost leading indicator Chicago PMI, which was also released today as expected on the last business day of the month. The Chicago Purchasing Manager's Index strengthened significantly in January and jumped from 58.7 in December to 61.5 in January. Most noteworthy change is in the employment index which entered into the expansion phase (>50) for the first time since November 2007 and is now at its highest level since April 2005. Given Chicago PMI's 91% correlation to the ISM report, it would be interesting to see how this report impacts the upcoming BLS Non-farm payroll no.s and the unemployment rate.