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Economy in Brief
FIBER: Industrial Commodity Prices Fall Further
The FIBER Industrial Materials Price Index declined 1.3% during the last four weeks...
Japan’s METI Sector Indexes Rebound But Still Lag
Japan's economy continues to fight for revival...
U.S. Existing Home Sales Continue to Weaken, Dragging Down Prices
The NAR reported that sales of existing homes during September declined 3.4% to 5.150 million...
Canadian Retail Sales Weaken As Inflation Slows
Canada's retail sales show relatively widespread deceleration...
U.S. Leading Economic Indicators Strengthen
The Conference Board's Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators increased 0.5% (7.0% y/y) during September...
by Robert Brusca February 28, 2008
Japan’s dip in IP in January is hard to evaluate right now. IP trends are moving lower but the Yr/Yr rate is still steady. The shorter term sequential growth rates, in the table below, show that the recent weakness is an artifact of the 3-month growth rates alone. Six-month growth rates are higher that 12-month rates for Total MFG and total industry. But textiles output, investment goods and minting show erosion between the 6 and 12-month horizons. All sectors and industries see declines in January and all are lower over three months except electricity and gas producers.
| Japan Industrial Production Trends | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| m/m % | Saar % | Yr/Yr | |||||
| Jan-08 | Dec-07 | Nov-07 | 3-mo | 6-mo | 12-mo | Yr-Ago | |
| Mining & Mfg | -2.0% | 1.4% | -1.6% | -8.3% | 3.2% | 2.5% | 3.2% |
| Total Industry | -2.3% | 1.7% | -1.3% | -7.6% | 3.9% | 2.6% | 2.6% |
| Mfg | -1.9% | 1.4% | -1.6% | -8.3% | 3.4% | 2.5% | 3.2% |
| Textiles | -2.3% | 2.5% | -2.2% | -7.7% | -7.4% | -5.0% | -4.2% |
| Transport | -3.2% | 2.4% | -2.9% | -14.2% | 31.5% | 11.6% | 4.6% |
| Product Group | |||||||
| Consumer Goods | -1.5% | 2.1% | -2.1% | -6.1% | 13.2% | 4.2% | -0.8% |
| Intermediate Goods | -2.6% | 1.3% | -1.1% | -9.4% | 3.6% | 4.3% | 3.8% |
| Investment Goods | -0.4% | -0.6% | -1.9% | -11.1% | -7.6% | -3.4% | 5.8% |
| Mining | -2.9% | 1.1% | -5.9% | -27.2% | -15.9% | -5.1% | 3.5% |
| Electric & Gas | -1.4% | 0.2% | 2.0% | 3.2% | 15.2% | 5.9% | -2.8% |
