The Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) dropped in January to -0.32 from +0.25 in December, the Chicago Fed reports, although the three-month average (CFNAI-3MO) reading rose to +0.30 from an upwardly revised +0.23 in December. Recession risk, in other words, was minimal last month. Although economic growth slowed in the start of the year, the three-month average of this index in January was well above the -0.70 level. That’s considered to be the tipping point for the onset of recessions. (CFNAI, a weighted average of 85 indicators, is designed as a benchmark of US economic activity broadly defined.)