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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 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% |