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- Japan: **Japan's Wage Indexes Delayed by Source**
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Economy in Brief
U.S. Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims Decline Sharply
Initial unemployment insurance claims fell to 209,000 (-2.1% y/y) during the week ended August 17...
Some PMI Improvement But Not Much Change in Europe
EMU readings for August show a clear but minor sense of stabilization...
U.S. Existing Home Sales Rise While Prices Slip
The NAR reported that sales of existing homes increased 2.5% during July to 5.420 million (0.6% y/y)...
U.S. Mortgage Loan Applications Ease
The MBA total Mortgage Applications Index slipped 0.9% (+73.1% y/y) during the week ending August 16...
Spain's Trade Deficit Shrinks As Global Growth Sputters
Spain's trade deficit on goods transactions fell into a smaller deficit in June...
by Tom Moeller February 15, 2018
The Federal Reserve indicated that industrial production slipped 0.1% (+3.7 y/y) during January, following a 0.4% December gain, revised from 0.9%. A 0.2% rise had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Factory sector production held steady (1.8% y/y) for a second straight month. A 0.6% increase (10.8% y/y) in utility output was offset by a 1.0% decline (+8.8% y/y) in mining production which followed a 0.4% fall.
Stability in factory sector output reflected a 0.3% increase (2.9% y/y) in consumer goods production. Motor vehicle & parts output increased 0.6% (1.4% y/y) after a 1.1% rise. Apparel production gained 0.2% (-8.3% y/y) but paper output fell 0.4% (+0.5% y/y). Appliance & furniture production fell 0.6% (+3.1% y/y), down for the fourth straight month. Chemical product production strengthened 1.1% (3.2% y/y) after a 0.3% rise. Business equipment production improved 0.9% (4.8% y/y) following a 1.0% gain. Machinery production increased 0.5% (7.9% y/y) and computer & electronic component production gained 1.3% (+2.4% y/y) after a 0.7% rise. Chemical production rose 1.1% (3.2% y/y) after a 0.3% rise and petroleum & related product output rose 0.9% (1.9% y/y). Construction supplies output declined 1.4% (+0.9 y/y.
Production of materials eased 0.3% (+4.7% y/y) as durable goods materials slipped 0.2% (+1.8% y/y) and nondurable goods materials eased 0.3% (+1.2% y/y)
In the special aggregate groupings, production in selected high-technology industries rose 0.9% (7.9% y/y), the fifth straight strong increase. Nonenergy production excluding high-tech slipped 0.1% (+1.4% y/y). Factory sector production excluding both high-tech and autos held steady (1.6% y/y) after a 0.2% dip.
Capacity utilization eased to 77.5%, but remained near the highest level since February 2015. Factory sector capacity utilization held steady m/m at 76.2%. Electric & gas utility utilization strengthened to 81.1%.
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) | Jan | Dec | Nov | Jan Y/Y | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Output | -0.1 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 3.7 | 2.0 | -1.2 | -0.7 |
| Manufacturing | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 1.4 | -0.0 | 0.1 |
| Consumer Goods | 0.3 | 1.0 | -0.7 | 2.9 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 2.3 |
| Business Equipment | 0.9 | -0.3 | 0.0 | 4.8 | 2.6 | -1.8 | -0.9 |
| Construction Supplies | -1.4 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 2.5 | 1.3 | 0.5 |
| Materials | -0.3 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 4.7 | 2.7 | -2.3 | -1.4 |
| Utilities | 0.6 | 4.6 | -1.8 | 10.8 | -0.3 | -0.3 | -0.7 |
| Mining | -1.0 | -0.4 | 2.1 | 8.8 | 6.8 | -9.1 | -4.3 |
| Capacity Utilization (%) | 77.5 | 77.7 | 77.5 | 75.7 | 76.5 | 75.7 | 76.8 |
| Manufacturing | 76.2 | 76.2 | 76.3 | 75.4 | 75.6x | 75.1 | 75.5 |
