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 March 16, 2018
The Federal Reserve reported that industrial production increased 1.1% (4.4% y/y) during February following a 0.3% January dip, revised from -0.1%. It was the largest increase since October 2017. A 0.3% rise had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Factory sector production strengthened 1.2% (2.5% y/y) following three months over which production was unchanged. Utility output declined 4.7% (+10.6% y/y) after two months of strong increase. Mining production surged 4.3% (9.7% y/y), the largest increase since October 2008.
Strength in factory sector output reflected a 1.0% increase (4.6% y/y) in the production of business equipment which followed a 0.1% easing. Transit equipment production rose 1.9% (2.8% y/y) following a 0.6% increase, and information processing & related product output gained 1.3% (4.9% y/y) after a 1.7% rise.
Total consumer goods production increased 0.1% (3.7% y/y) following two months of 0.5% rise. Durable consumer goods production rose 2.8% (2.6% y/y) after a 0.8% decline. Automotive product output jumped 3.9% (3.2% y/y) following a 1.4% decline. Computer, video & related production gained 2.0% (8.8% y/y) after a 1.6% decline. Appliance, furniture & carpeting production rose 2.1% (1.0% y/y) following a 0.7% decline. These gains were offset by a 0.7% decline (+4.0% y/y) in nondurable consumer goods production which followed a 0.8% rise. Energy product output weakened 6.1% (+11.6% y/y) after a 1.9% increase. Apparel production gained 1.1% (-3.0% y/y) after a 0.6% rise. Paper product output increased 1.4% (-1.7% y/y) after a 2.0% decline. Chemical product production eased 0.2% (+3.3% y/y) after a 1.1% rise.
Construction supplies output increased 2.3% (1.2%y/y) after a 1.9% decline.
Production of materials improved 1.6% (5.5% y/y) after a 0.5% decline. Durable goods materials output jumped 1.9% (2.5% y/y) and nondurable goods materials rose 1.1% (2.2% y/y).
In the special aggregate groupings, production in selected high-technology industries rose 1.0% (8.3% y/y) following a 0.2% dip. Nonenergy production excluding high-tech rose 1.5% (2.2% y/y). Factory sector production excluding both high-tech and autos improved 1.0% (2.4% y/y) after two months of slight decline.
Capacity utilization increased to78.1%, the highest level since level since January 2015. Factory sector capacity utilization rose tot 76.9%. Electric & gas utility utilization declined to 76.9%.
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) | Feb | Jan | Dec | Feb Y/Y | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total Output | 1.1 | -0.3 | 0.5 | 4.4 | 2.0 | -1.2 | -0.7 |
Manufacturing | 1.2 | -0.2 | 0.1 | 2.5 | 1.4 | -0.0 | 0.1 |
Consumer Goods | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 3.7 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 2.3 |
Business Equipment | 1.0 | -0.1 | -0.2 | 4.6 | 2.6 | -1.8 | -0.9 |
Construction Supplies | 2.3 | -1.9 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 2.5 | 1.3 | 0.5 |
Materials | 1.6 | -0.5 | 0.5 | 5.5 | 2.8 | -2.3 | -1.4 |
Utilities | -4.7 | 1.3 | 3.6 | 10.6 | -0.4 | -0.3 | -0.7 |
Mining | 4.3 | -1.5 | 0.3 | 9.7 | 6.9 | -9.1 | -4.3 |
Capacity Utilization (%) | 78.1 | 77.4 | 77.8 | 75.8 | 76.5 | 75.7 | 76.8 |
Manufacturing | 76.9 | 76.0 | 76.3 | 75.6 | 75.6 | 75.1 | 75.5 |