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Economy in Brief
U.S. Mortgage Applications Rose Slightly in the Latest Week
Mortgage applications increased 0.2% (-62.9% y/y) from one week earlier...
U.S. Productivity Declines in Q2, Pushing Unit Labor Costs Higher
Nonfarm business sector productivity fell 4.6% (AR) during Q2'22...
U.S. Small Business Optimism Edged Up in July
The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index edged up to 89.9 in July...
U.S. Gasoline & Crude Oil Prices Continue Weakening
Retail gasoline prices declined to $4.04 per gallon (+27.3% y/y) last week...
OECD LEIs Point to a Ramp Down in Growth - and Nothing More
The OECD metrics this month show a broad tendency for growth to slow down...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller March 4, 2005
Factory inventories jumped 1.3% in January led higher by broad based industry gains. Less petroleum which jumped 8.6% (18.3% y/y), inventories increased 1.0% (8.1% y/y).
Shipments out of the factory sector surged 1.4% but were notable for primary metals (32.0% y/y), machinery (20.6% y/y), computers & electronics (11.1% y/y) and chemicals (11.7% y/y).
Orders to the factory sector rose 0.2%. The advance report of a 0.9% decline in durable goods was revised deeper to 1.3% (+11.4% y/y). Nondefense capital goods orders less aircraft was unrevised at +2.9% (17.1% y/y).
Unfilled orders fell 0.2% for the first decline in a year. Fewer supply bottlenecks were indicated as the ratio of unfilled orders to shipments for durables fell sharply for the second month.
Factory Survey (NAICS) | Jan | Dec | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Inventories | 1.3% | 0.1% | 8.5% | 7.5% | -1.3% | -1.8% |
New Orders | 0.2% | 0.5% | 11.3% | 10.9% | 3.7% | -1.9% |
Shipments | 1.4% | 1.2% | 11.7% | 10.5% | 2.6% | -2.0% |
Unfilled Orders | -0.2% | 0.5% | 8.9% | 9.1% | 4.2% | -6.1% |