Recent Updates
- US: Wholesale Trade (Feb), Producer Prices (Mar)
- US: Producer Price Indexes by Commodity Detail (Mar)
- US: Producer Price Indexes by Industry Detail (Mar)
- Canada: Investment in Building Construction (Feb), Labor Force Survey (Mar)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. Wholesale Inventories Post Strong February Gain; Sales Fall
Wholesale inventories increased 0.6% (2.0% y/y) during February...
U.S. Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims Unexpectedly Increase
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to 744,000 during the week ended April 3...
Total PMIs Gain Traction in March
The PMI readings for March show improvement again...
U.S. Consumer Credit Outstanding Bounces Back in February
Consumer credit outstanding surged $27.6 billion during February...
U.S. Trade Deficit Widens to Record during February
The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services widened to $71.1 during February...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller April 15, 2015
Overall industrial output fell 0.6% during March (+2.0% y/y) following an unrevised 0.1% February uptick. Improved weather caused utility output to fall 5.9%, reversing February's increase. A 0.3% decline in production had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. To the upside, manufacturing sector production improved 0.1% (2.4% y/y) after an unrevised 0.2% decline.
A 0.2% (3.2% y/y) increase in business equipment output followed a 0.8% rise. Transit equipment output improved 0.6% (3.8% y/y) and information processing production ticked 0.1% higher (3.7% y/y). Continuing weak, however, was consumer goods production which posted a 0.6% decline (+0.9% y/y). Nondurable goods output fell 1.2% (-0.2% y/y), held back by a 5.0% drop in energy output. Non-energy production gained 0.1% (1.0% y/y) as food product production improved 0.7% (0.3% y/y) and clothing output rose 0.3% (1.1% y/y). Chemical production, however, fell 0.8% (+2.8% y/y). Durable consumer goods production rebounded 1.7% (4.4% y/y) as automotive product production gained 3.0% (5.3% y/y), making up a 2.9% February decline. A 0.5% shortfall (+5.3% y/y) in appliance & furniture production offset the increase. Construction supplies output fell 0.9% (+2.6% y/y) and mining production declined 0.8% (+3.7% y/y), off 3.1% during the last six months.
Within the special aggregate series, high technology industries production rebounded 0.3% (4.0% y/y) following three straight monthly declines. Computers & office equipment output increased 1.1% (1.1% y/y). Communications equipment production was unchanged (6.4% y/y). Factory sector production excluding the high-tech sector ticked 0.1% lower (+2.2% y/y) after being unchanged. Manufacturing production excluding both high-tech and autos slipped 0.1% (+2.1% y/y).
The capacity utilization rate fell to 78.4% and remained below the recovery high of 79.8% reached in November. In the factory sector, the capacity utilization rate held steady at 77.1%, its lowest since October. Total industry capacity rose 3.0% y/y while factory sector capacity increased 2.1% y/y.
Industrial production and capacity data are included in Haver's USECON database, with additional detail in the IP database. The expectations figure is in the AS1REPNA database.
Industrial Production (SA, % Change) | Mar | Feb | Jan | Mar Y/Y | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total Output | -0.6 | 0.1 | -0.4 | 2.0 | 4.2 | 2.9 | 3.8 |
Manufacturing | 0.1 | -0.2 | -0.6 | 2.4 | 3.5 | 2.7 | 4.1 |
Consumer Goods | -0.6 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 2.8 | 2.4 | 1.7 |
Business Equipment | 0.2 | 0.8 | -0.8 | 3.3 | 5.2 | 3.6 | 7.5 |
Construction Supplies | -0.9 | -0.3 | -0.9 | 2.6 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.6 |
Materials | -0.5 | -0.1 | -0.5 | 3.2 | 5.1 | 3.2 | 4.5 |
Utilities | -5.9 | 5.7 | 3.3 | -4.4 | 1.3 | 2.1 | -2.1 |
Capacity Utilization (%) | 78.4 | 79.0 | 79.1 | 79.1 | 79.1 | 78.0 | 77.3 |
Manufacturing | 77.1 | 77.1 | 77.4 | 76.8 | 77.2 | 76.1 | 75.5 |