Large rise in Chicago Fed's national activity gauge

One widely-followed gauge of economic activity Stateside picked-up in September.

The Federal Reserve bank of Chicago's national activity index rose from -0.72 points in August to a reading of -0.14.

All four categories of indicators contributing to the CFNAI - production, sales, orders and inventory, employment-related and personal consumption and housing - made negative readings in September, albeit less so than in the previous month.

The three-month moving average for the CFNAI slipped from -0.14 to -0.21, suggesting that growth in national economic activity was some somewhat below its historical trend, the Chicago Fed said.

Sixty seven of the 85 individual indicators improved from one month to the next in September and 17 worsened, with 41 making positive contributions and the rest acting as a drag.

Production-related indicators registered the largest change, subtracting -0.01 in September after a -0.39 in August.

August's monthly reading was revised lower from a preliminary estimate of -0.55 to -0.72.