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Economy in Brief
U.S. Index of Leading Indicators Fell Again in July
The Conference Board's Composite Leading Economic Indicators Index fell 0.4% m/m...
U.S. Philly Fed General Activity Index Back to Positive Reading in August
The current general activity diffusion index rose nearly 19 points in August to 6.2...
U.S. Unemployment Claims Slightly Lower
Initial claims for unemployment insurance went down 2,000 in the week ended August 13 to 250,000...
Inflation Rages in EMU and Hovers Globally
Inflation in the European Monetary Union in July finalizes at 8.8% year-over-year...
U.S. Retail Sales Hold Steady in July; Nonauto Sales Rise
Total retail sales remained unchanged during July (10.3% y/y)...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller May 17, 2005
Industrial production fell 0.2% in April following a downwardly revised 0.1% increase in March. Consensus expectations had been for a 0.2% gain. Lower utility output accounted for all of the decline as it fell 2.3% (0.7% y/y) for the third decline this year.
Factory sector output recovered 0.1% (3.5% y/y) of a downwardly revised 0.3% decline in March. Excluding the high tech sector where output rose 1.8% (20.3% y/y) factory output fell for the second month, down 0.1% (+2.5% y/y). During 2004 factory output less high tech rose 3.9%.
Production of electrical equipment, appliances & components rose 0.2% after a downwardly revised 1.0% March increase, but the y/y gain of 2.0% was well off the 6.2% pace of 2004. Machinery output also rose a firm 1.3% but here as well the y/y growth of 6.3% is about last year's increase.
Total capacity utilization slipped to 79.2% and capacity grew 1.2% y/y. Factory sector utilization also slipped to 77.9% and capacity rose 1.3% y/y.
Production & Capacity | April | March | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Industrial Production | -0.2% | 0.1% | 3.1% | 4.1% | -0.0% | -0.3% |
Consumer Goods | -0.9% | -0.2% | 1.4% | 2.7% | 0.3% | 1.4% |
Business Equipment | 0.8% | -0.1% | 8.4% | 9.5% | 1.2% | -7.9% |
Capacity Utilization | 79.2% | 79.4% | 77.7% (04/04) | 78.1% | 75.5% | 75.3% |