Recent Updates
- Germany: Import & Export Prices (May)
- Finland: International Trade Detail (Apr)
- Denmark: Financial Soundness Indicators (Q1)
- Malaysia: Mineral Production, Imports and Exports (Apr)
- China: Manufacturing PMI, Nonmanufacturing PMI, Steel PMI (Jun)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. Mortgage Applications Continued to Rise, but only Slightly
The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that mortgage applications edged up 0.7% w/w...
Globally Money Supply Slows or Contracts in Real Terms
Money supply trends show that slowing is widespread across the major monetary center countries...
U.S. Consumer Confidence Deteriorates Further in June
The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index weakened 4.4% (-23.4% y/y) in June...
U.S. FHFA House Prices Continued to Rise in April
The FHFA House Price Index increased 1.6% during April...
U.S. Advance Trade Deficit Narrowed Slightly in May
The advance estimate of the U.S. international trade deficit in goods narrowed to $104.3 billion in May...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller April 16, 2019
Industrial production eased 0.1% as expected (+2.8% y/y) during March after a 0.1% February improvement. Factory output held steady (1.0% y/y) following two straight months of modest decline. Data back through 2017 were revised.
Output weakness last month was led by a 0.2% decline in consumer goods production which followed a 0.6% rise in February. Durable consumer goods production fell sharply. The 1.8% decline (-2.1% y/y) was led by a 2.3% drop (-3.6% y/y) in production of automotive products. Working lower by 1.4% (11.0% y/y) was production of computers, video & audio products. Appliance, furniture & carpeting production fell 1.4% (-3.4% y/y). Output of nondurable goods rose 0.3% (+0.4% y/y) as food & tobacco production eased 0.1% (-0.6% y/y). Clothing production improved 0.2% (-14.4% y/y). Chemical product output increased 0.9% (1.6% y/y) and paper product production gained 0.3% (-7.4% y/y). Energy product output rose 0.5% (2.8% y/y). Production of business equipment rose 0.4% (3.7% y/y as computer output strengthened 1.5% (6.2% y/y). Industrial equipment output gained 0.3% (3.8% y/y), but production of transit equipment offset these gains with a 0.3% decline (+1.7% y/y). Information processing production increased 1.5% (6.2% y/y). Non-industrial supplies production improved 0.1% (+0.7% y/y) after declining 0.4%.
Materials production eased 0.3% (+4.5% y/y) as consumer parts production fell 1.8% (-5.7% y/y). Equipment parts offset this decline with a 0.8% rise (6.1% y/y). Textile materials production improved 0.8% (7.2% y/y).
Selected high-tech product output gained 0.2% (3.5% y/y) as semiconductor production rose 0.4% (4.6% y/y). Computer & office equipment production was unchanged (-3.7% y/y) and communication equipment output eased 0.1% (+10.0% y/y). Manufacturing production excluding high-tech and the motor vehicle industry rose 0.2% (1.5% y/y).
Overall capacity utilization eased to 78.8% from an upwardly revised 79.0%. A rate of 79.2% had been expected. Factory sector utilization edged lower to 76.4% from 76.5%. Utilization in the mining sector was 90.9% and 79.9% in the utility sector. Manufacturing sector capacity rose 0.9% y/y following a 0.4% rise in 2018 and two years of 0.7% growth.
Industrial production and capacity utilization data are included in Haver's USECON database. Additional detail on production and capacity can be found in the IP database. The expectations figures come from the AS1REPNA database.
Industrial Production (SA, % Change) | Mar | Feb | Jan | Mar Y/Y | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total Output | -0.1 | 0.1 | -0.3 | 2.8 | 3.9 | 2.3 | -2.0 |
Manufacturing | 0.0 | -0.3 | -0.5 | 1.0 | 2.3 | 2.0 | -0.8 |
Consumer Goods | -0.2 | 0.6 | -1.2 | 0.1 | 2.1 | 0.5 | 0.6 |
Business Equipment | 0.4 | -0.8 | 0.1 | 3.7 | 3.3 | 3.6 | -5.3 |
Construction Supplies | 0.4 | -1.4 | 0.0 | 1.4 | 2.8 | 3.4 | 0.9 |
Materials | -0.3 | 0.1 | -0.2 | 4.5 | 5.9 | 2.7 | -3.0 |
Utilities | 0.2 | 3.7 | 0.6 | 4.1 | 4.4 | -0.8 | -0.4 |
Mining | -0.8 | 0.0 | -0.2 | 10.5 | 12.4 | 7.4 | -10.0 |
Capacity Utilization (%) | 78.8 | 79.0 | 79.1 | 78.2 | 78.7 | 76.5 | 75.0 |
Manufacturing | 76.4 | 76.5 | 76.8 | 76.3 | 76.6 | 75.1 | 74.2 |