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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 December 6, 2005
Factory inventories in October rose 0.6% following an upwardly revised 0.1% up tick in September. Less petroleum, the 0.4% (3.9% y/y) rise in factory inventories was the strongest since February.
The October inventory gain was led by a 11.4% rise in motor vehicles but additionally reflected a 0.4% (4.1% y/y) increase in electrical equipment and a 0.5% (-1.1% y/y) rise in computers & electronic products. Nondurables inventories rose 0.9% (4.9% y/y) and less petroleum, the 0.5% (+2.7% y/y) rise in nondurable inventories was the first in four months.
Factory shipments recovered 1.0% and factory sector orders surged 2.2%. The advance report of a 3.4% jump in durables goods orders was revised to 3.7%.
Unfilled orders jumped 1.6% and pulled the year to year gain to a near record 12.1%. Less the transportation sector backlogs continued strong and surged 1.1% (9.8% y/y) while the ratio of total unfilled orders to shipments rose further to the highest level since 2002.
Factory Survey (NAICS) | Oct | Sept | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Inventories | 0.6% | 0.1% | 4.7% | 7.7% | -1.1% | -5.4% |
New Orders | 2.2% | -1.4% | 9.0% | 9.3% | 3.5% | -2.5% |
Shipments | 1.0% | -0.4% | 6.5% | 9.5% | 1.5% | -2.5% |
Unfilled Orders | 1.6% | 0.6% | 12.1% | 8.4% | 8.0% | -8.5% |