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FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF SAN FRANCISCO
ECON OM I C

RES EA RCH

INDICATORS AND DATA

TECH PULSE
The Tech Pulse Index is an index of coincident indicators of activity in the U.S. information technology sector. It
can be interpreted as a summary statistic that tracks the health of the tech sector in a timely manner. The
indicators used to compute the index are investment in IT goods, consumption of personal computers and
software, employment in the IT sector, as well as industrial production of and shipments by the technology
sector. The index extracts the common trend that drives these series.

CURRENT RELEASE
Deviation of growth rate from historical average
75

50

Percent

25

0

-25

-50

-75
1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

1-month growth rate (annualized)

2000

2005

12-month growth rate

2010

2015

SUMMARY
In March 2017 the Tech Pulse Index grew at an annualized rate of 6.3%, compared to its 11.8% historical
average. The Tech Pulse Index grew 8.1% over the past 12 months.

Tech Pulse Index and Underlying Indicators
12 month
growth rate

Monthly growth rates,
annualized

Indicator

latest

Jan-17

Feb-17

Mar-17

Tech Pulse

8.1%

6.1%

5.1%

6.3%

Industrial Production

7.7%

2.0%

3.5%

Shipments

6.7%

1.9%

1.3%

Employment

1.1%

-1.1%

1.4%

PCE

15.3%

-0.9%

14.9%

PCE deflator

-5.8%

18.1%

-12.3%

4 quarter
growth rate

0.5%

Quarterly growth rates,
annualized

latest

2016Q3

2016Q4

Private fixed investment (PFI)

1.3%

16.2%

6.7%

PFI deflator

-1.3%

-2.4%

-3.1%

2017Q1

Announcements
The econometric model used to construct the Tech Pulse index is re-estimated every month. Consequently,
every month the whole historical time-series of the index is revised.
The econometric specification of the model underlying the index as well as the source data have changed
substantially compared to the versions of the index released before August 2008. Therefore, the current
version of the Tech Pulse index is not directly comparable to previous versions of the index published before
December 2008.

Methodology/References
Data releases
Related Publications

Bart Hobijn. 2009. “The Tech Pulse Index: Recent Trends in Tech-Sector Activity.” FRBSF Economic Letter 200903.
Bart Hobijn, Kevin J. Stiroh and Alexis Antoniades. 2003. “Taking the Pulse of the Tech Sector: A Coincident
Index of High-Tech Activity.” Current Issues in Economics and Finance, 9 (10).
Bart Hobijn, Tech Pulse Index: Sources and Methodology.