What is the Chicago Business Activity Index?
Download CBAI index For sub-states, such as Chicago, no public data are made to be comparable to the nation. For local employers or governments, national or state economic data is often too broad or dated to provide the basis for useful analysis. Most timely local information focuses on the labor market and hence cannot accurately reflect the level of regional economic activities. To fill this void, REAL has created a statistical index, called as the Chicago Business Activity Index (CBAI), in the fall of 2002 that, from readily available data, estimate the change in Chicago’s economic activity, in a timely and comprehensive manner. Similar to national coincidence index, the CBAI is a monthly statistics, measuring local business cycle status by leading 2-to-3 months ahead, of the six-county Chicago region. The derivation of CBAI is based on local data and, as a national factor, Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI). The CFNAI is the same index of national economic activity develop
