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Economy in Brief
U.S. Consumer Credit Continues to Decline
Cautious spending breeds less credit usage...
German Orders Plunge in April
Germany's orders plunged in April, falling by 25.8% m/m...
U.S. Trade Deficit Deepens; Exports & Imports Fall by Record Amounts in April
The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services widened to $49.41 billion during April...
U.S. Productivity and Unit Labor Costs Revised Up for Q1'20
Output per hour revised up on weaker hours worked...
State & Pandemic Assistance Continuing Claims Total 32.5 Million
Initial jobless claims decreased to a still extremely-elevated 1.877 million in the week ending May 30...
Special Topics
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% |
