Results from the Ceridian-UCLA Pulse of Commerce Index (PCI) by UCLA Anderson School of Management show the U.S. economy essentially flat over the first two months of the year, with a February decline offsetting the modest gains previously reported for January. With the index number this month enhanced to include adjustments for monthly work days as well as seasonality, February fell 0.7 percent, following January's increase of 0.6 percent. This flat performance follows a robust 2.8-percent gain in December.
The PCI is based on an analysis of real-time diesel fuel consumption data from over the road trucking tracked by Ceridian Corp., a global provider of electronic and stored value card payment services and human resources solutions.
"February was disappointing, but the geographic pattern underlying the index suggests this was due in large part to extreme snowfalls during the month," said Edward Leamer, director of the UCLA Anderson Forecast and chief economist for the PCI.
