Recent Updates
- New Zealand: Value of Building Work Put in Place by Region (Q4)
- New Zealand: Value of Building Work Put in Place (Q4)
- US: Public Debt (Feb), Mfrs' Shipments Inventories & Orders (Jan), Productivity & Costs with Revisions (Q4)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
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...
U.S. Productivity's Decline Lessened in Q4'20; Reverses Q3 Increase
Revisions to nonfarm business sector productivity indicated a 4.2% decline during Q4'20...
EMU Unemployment Rate Steadies in January
The overall EMU unemployment rate was steady in January, off peak, but still elevated...
U.S. ADP Nonfarm Private Payroll Increase Disappoints in February
Job market strength moderated last month....
U.S. ISM Services Index Weakens in February
The ISM Composite Index of Services Activity declined to 55.3 during February...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller September 14, 2005
Industrial output in August rose 0.1% for the second consecutive month and fell short of Consensus expectations for a 0.3% increase. The disappointment centered on declines in utility output (-0.5%) and mining output (-0.7%). Factory sector production rose 0.3% (2.9% y/y) but the July increase was revised down to just 0.1%.
Hurricane Katrina lowered the gain in output by 0.3 percentage points.
A 3.8% (5.5% y/y) rise in motor vehicle & parts production accounted for all of last month's output gain. Less motor vehicles, factory output was unchanged (2.6% y/y) following an unrevised 0.3% July increase.
Output of computers & peripheral equipment jumped another 1.5% (19.4% y/y) after the huge 2.3% spike in July. Excluding the high tech sector as well as autos, factory output fell 0.1% (+1.6% y/y).
Output of appliances, furniture & carpeting rose 0.7% (1.0% y/y) and recovered a 0.8% drop in July although output of nondurable goods doubled the prior month's decline and fell 0.6% (+2.4% y/y). U.S. clothing output has fallen nearly two thirds from what is was ten years ago (-6.7% y/y) and, during the last three months, paper products' output is down as well (+3.4% y/y).
Total capacity utilization was stable at 79.8% and capacity grew 1.1% y/y. Factory sector utilization rose to 78.4%, up from 77.2% last August while capacity rose 1.4% y/y.
Pricing, Production and Persistence from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia can be found here.
Production & Capacity | Aug | July | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Industrial Production | 0.1% | 0.1% | 3.2% | 4.1% | -0.0% | -0.3% |
Consumer Goods | 0.4% | -0.5% | 2.4% | 2.7% | 0.3% | 1.4% |
Business Equipment | -0.2% | 1.6% | 8.0% | 9.5% | 1.2% | -7.9% |
Capacity Utilization | 79.8% | 79.8% | 78.3% (8/04) | 78.1% | 75.5% | 75.3% |