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Economy in Brief
U.S. Consumer Credit Outstanding Declines in January
Consumers reduced credit balances further in January...
U.S. Trade Deficit Widens to $68.2 Billion in January
The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services widened to $68.2 billion in January...
German Order Growth Gets Back in Gear Despite the Headwinds
German order growth is back in gear with total orders rising by 1.4% m/m in January...
U.S. Factory Orders & Shipments Rise Again in January
Manufacturing activity is strengthening. Factory orders rose 2.6% (2.8% y/y) in January...
U.S. Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims Rise Just 9,000
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose modestly by 9,000 to 745,000 in the week ended February 27...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller June 15, 2005
With a 0.3% rise in May, industrial production recovered all of the prior month's deepened 0.3% decline. Consensus expectations had been for a 0.2% gain.
The headline figure masked a sharper improvement in factory sector output which rose 0.6% (3.3% y/y) following two months of modest decline. Scattered industry gains were strongest for machinery (6.7% y/y), electrical equipment (2.2% y/y) aerospace (7.9% y/y) and high tech (19.5% y/y). Excluding the high tech sector factory output rose 0.4% (2.3% y/y) and reversed the decline during the prior two months.
Motor vehicle output rose a slight 0.1% (+1.4% y/y) following two months of sharp decline. Output of furniture fell 0.2% (-3.6% y/y), the fourth monthly decline this year.
Total capacity utilization rose to 79.4% and capacity grew 1.2% y/y. Factory sector utilization rose to 78.2% versus 76.7% last May and capacity rose 1.4% y/y.
| Production & Capacity | May | April | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Industrial Production | 0.3% | -0.3% | 2.7% | 4.1% | -0.0% | -0.3% |
| Consumer Goods | 0.5% | -0.9% | 1.4% | 2.7% | 0.3% | 1.4% |
| Business Equipment | 0.8% | 1.0% | 8.1% | 9.5% | 1.2% | -7.9% |
| Capacity Utilization | 79.4% | 79.1% | 78.2% (05/04) | 78.1% | 75.5% | 75.3% |
