The Ceridian-UCLA Pulse of Commerce Index, issued monthly by the UCLA Anderson School of Management and Ceridian Corp., rose 0.3 percent in March following the 0.7 percent increase in February and the 1.7 percent decrease in January. The first-quarter PCI is below the fourth quarter of 2011 by 4.9 percent at an annualized rate.
The index by the UCLA Anderson School of Management is based on real-time fuel consumption data of over-the-road trucking and serves as an indicator of the current state and possible future direction of the U.S. economy. By tracking the volume and location of diesel fuel being purchased, the index monitors the over-the-road movement of produce, raw materials, goods-in-process and finished goods to U.S. factories, retailers and consumers.
Working with economists at UCLA Anderson School of Management and Charles River Associates, Ceridian publicly releases the index monthly.
