Brewed Fresh Daily

Three must read economic stories from across the Midwest today.

Manufacturing growth slows to lowest in two years.  Bloomberg reports manufacturing gains are slowing down. The sector has been growing steadily for two years, but this month numbers came close to signaling manufacturing is stagnant. The drop in the numbers–bigger than analysts expected–is believed to be caused by consumers holding on to their money and continued parts shortages from Japan. Stocks dropped on the news, erasing an earlier bump from the prospect of a debt-ceiling deal.

Chicago’s gamble on Lollapalooza paying off for city hotels and restaurants. Six years ago, Chicago signed a 10 year contract to host the Lollapalooza music festival. It’s estimated the show will bring in $85 million in local spending this year, Crain’s Chicago reports. That number makes the festival the city’s third largest convention. The deal for the show included an abatement of the city’s 6% tax on ticket sales in exchange for the city’s Parkways Foundation getting a share of the profits. The foundation expects to make more than $2.2 million this year. Still, radiologists have a lot more cash to blow than the average concertgoer. The Radiological Society of North America’s annual meeting is still Chicago’s biggest convention. It generates $120 million in local spending.

Northbrook, Illinois based Allstate insurer says cost of spring and summer tornado’s led to a $620 million loss. Bloomberg reports the loss is the first one for the insurer in over two years. These losses, which come from homeowner’s insurance, were better than expected. Over 1,600 storms have been reported already this year, beating the storm total for all of last year by almost 400. Allstate is the country’s second largest insurer, behind State Farm insurance.