In February, the monetary base was $3.455 trillion, which was its highest level since November 2018. This was the third month in a row of month-over-month accelerating growth, which is a positive sign for capital equipment consumption. February’s 3.0% rate of growth was the fastest since January 2018.

The annual rate of contraction in the money supply, -6.8%, decelerated for fourth month in a row, which also is positive sign for capital equipment consumption. This was the slowest rate of annual contraction since January 2019. A decelerating contraction in the annual rate of change in the money supply tends to lead to a decelerating contraction in capital equipment spending.