Output Begins Recovery

U .S. chemical production began its post-hurricane recovery in October. According to seasonally adjusted Federal Reserve Board data, the production index for all chemicals rose 2.4% to 99.8 (2002 = 100) from September, while the index for basic chemicals increased 6.7% to 81.8. Despite the increases, total chemical output in October was still off 2.9% from August, essentially before the hurricanes struck, while basic chemicals were down 15.8% from that month. The government has revised all of the monthly production data while changing the index year to 2002 from 1997.