Recent Updates
- Flash PMIs: Japan, France, Germany, Euro Area, UK (Jan)
- Spain: Credit Institutions Balance Sheet (Nov)
- Iceland: Wage Index, Monetary Statistics (Dec)
- Sweden: Real Estate Price Index (Q4)
- Georgia: Central Government Debt (Q4)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index Jumps in January
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Factory Sector Business Conditions Index jumped to January to 26.5...
U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Ease, but Are Still High
Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to 900,000 in the week ended January 16...
French Surveys Improve Despite Ongoing Virus Issues
The spread of the virus in Franc is still untamed...
U.S. Home Builder Sentiment Slips in January
The Composite Housing Market Index from the NAHB-Wells Fargo declined 3.5% m/m (+10.7% y/y) in January...
Decline in Refinancing Drags Down U.S. Mortgage Applications
The MBA Mortgage Loan Applications Index fell 1.9% w/w (+56.2% y/y) in the weekend January 15...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller May 16, 2018
The Federal Reserve reported that industrial production increased 0.7% (3.5% y/y) during April following a 0.7% March rise, revised from 0.5%. A 0.5% rise had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Factory sector production improved 0.5% (1.9% y/y) after holding steady in March, revised from 0.1%. Utility output strengthened 1.9% (6.0% y/y) after a 6.1% rise. Mining production improved 1.1% (10.6% y/y) following a 0.8% increase.
Strength in factory sector output reflected a 1.2% increase (1.3% y/y) in the production of business equipment which followed a 0.1% uptick. Industrial & other equipment production improved 1.8% (0.5% y/y) after a 0.9% decline. Production of information processing & related equipment strengthened 1.5% (4.3% y/y) after a 0.6% rise. Transit equipment production eased 0.2% (5.5% y/y) following a 0.4% increase.
Total consumer goods production increased 0.9% (3.4% y/y), about as it did in March. Nondurable consumer goods production increased 1.4% (3.8% y/y) following a 1.1% rise. Energy product output strengthened 3.2% (6.5% y/y) after a 6.5% increase. Apparel production rebounded 1.4% (1.2% y/y) after a 0.3% decrease. Paper product output rose 1.2% (-3.8% y/y) after a 0.9% increase. Chemical product production rose 1.0% (5.2% y/y) after a 0.2% rise. Working the other way, durable consumer goods production declined 0.6% (+2.3% y/y) after a 0.9% increase. Automotive product output declined 1.1% (+3.3% y/y) following two months of strong increase. Computer, video & related production fell 0.9% (+4.5% y/y) after a 1.5% fall. Appliance, furniture & carpeting production gained 0.7% (-1.5% y/y) following a 2.7% weakening.
Construction supplies output improved 0.3% (3.4% y/y) after a 1.0% decline.
Production of materials improved 0.5% (2.5% y/y) after a 0.9% increase. Energy product materials output increased 0.9% (9.9% y/y) after a 1.9% increase. Durable goods materials output rose 0.3% (1.9% y/y) following a 0.1% dip and nondurable goods materials rose 0.2% (0.6% y/y) following a 0.8% gain.
In the special aggregate groupings, production in selected high-technology industries rose 0.7% (6.1% y/y) following a 0.5% gain. Nonenergy production excluding high-tech gained 0.5% (1.5% y/y) following a 0.1% slip. Factory sector production excluding both high-tech and autos improved 0.6% (1.6% y/y) after a 0.2% slip.
Capacity utilization increased to 78.0%, the highest level since March 2015. Factory sector capacity utilization rose to 75.5%. Manuacturing sector capacity increased 0.9% 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) | Apr | Mar | Feb | Apr Y/Y | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total Output | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 3.5 | 1.6 | -2.0 | -1.0 |
Manufacturing | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 1.2 | -0.8 | 0.1 |
Consumer Goods | 0.9 | 1.0 | -0.3 | 3.4 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 1.5 |
Business Equipment | 1.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 3.2 | -5.3 | -2.0 |
Construction Supplies | 0.3 | -1.0 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 2.5 | 0.9 | 0.6 |
Materials | 0.5 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 2.5 | 2.0 | -3.0 | -1.5 |
Utilities | 1.9 | 6.1 | -9.6 | 6.0 | -1.3 | -0.4 | -0.8 |
Mining | 1.1 | 0.8 | 2.8 | 10.6 | 6.4 | -9.7 | -3.4 |
Capacity Utilization (%) | 78.0 | 77.6 | 77.1 | 76.2 | 78.1 | 75.4 | 77.3 |
Manufacturing | 75.8 | 75.5 | 75.6 | 75.1 | 74.8 | 74.6 | 75.8 |