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Economy in Brief
U.S. Leading Indicators Rebounded in March
The Conference Board's Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators rebounded in March, rising 1.3% m/m (+7.9% y/y)...
Chicago Fed National Activity Index Increases in March
The Chicago Fed's National Activity Index increased to 1.71 during March...
Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Activity Strengthens in April
The Kansas City Fed reported that its manufacturing sector business activity index rose to a record 31 in April...
U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Fall Again to a New Pandemic-Period Low
Initial claims for unemployment insurance decreased again in the week ending April 17, reaching 547,000...
U.K. CBI Optimism Speaks Volumes
The U.K. CBI survey saw its order component backtrack in April...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller September 17, 2019
Industrial production rebounded 0.6% (0.4% y/y) during August following a 0.1% easing in July, revised from -0.2%. A 0.2% gain had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Factory sector output improved 0.5% (-0.5% y/y) and reversed July's 0.4% decline. Production in the mining sector also reversed July's decline with a 1.4% increase (5.1% y/y). Utilities output rose 0.6% (-0.8% y/y) following a 3.7% jump.
Output of final products increased 0.4% (0.1% y/y) following a 0.1% easing. Consumer goods production gained 0.2% (-0.4% y/y). Nondurable goods output rose 0.3% (-0.5% y/y) despite the fact that apparel production dropped 1.2% (-10.6% y/y). Textile mill production improved 0.1% (-3.8% y/y). Petroleum & coal product production posted a 0.3% drop (-2.2% y/y). Chemical output increased 1.1% (-1.2% y/y) but food, beverage & tobacco product production slipped 0.1% (-0.4% y/y). Durable goods production increased 0.5% (0.6% y/y), bolstered by a 1.6% strengthening (2.0% y/y) in machinery output. Computer & electronic product production gained 0.4% (4.4% y/y) but motor vehicle production fell 0.5% (+0.5% y/y). Business equipment production rose 1.0% (0.3% y/y) as industrial & other production surged 1.7% (-0.4% y/y). Information processing & other equipment output improved 0.2% (5.0% y/y).
Materials production increased 0.9% (0.7% y/y) as durable goods output rose 0.6% (-0.1% y/y) and nondurable materials production gained 0.4% (2.7% y/y). Energy materials production strengthened 1.3% (3.5% y/y).
In the special aggregate groupings, production of computers, communications equipment & semiconductors rose 0.8% (1.9% y/y). The latter strengthened 1.4% (1.2% y/y) while computers & peripheral output fell 0.4% (-3.3% y/y). Factory output excluding high-tech and motor vehicles rose 0.6% (-0.6% y/y).
The capacity utilization rate rose to 77.9% and recovered July's decline. It remained below the November 2018 high of 79.6%. The factory sector utilization rate increased to 75.7% but remained below the December 2018 high of 77.3%. Factory sector capacity increased 1.2% y/y.
Industrial production and capacity data and US Population-Weighted Heating and Cooling Days 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) | Aug | Jul | Jun | Aug Y/Y | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total Output | 0.6 | -0.1 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 3.9 | 2.3 | -2.0 |
Manufacturing | 0.5 | -0.4 | 0.6 | -0.5 | 2.3 | 2.0 | -0.8 |
Consumer Goods | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.6 | -0.4 | 2.1 | 0.5 | 0.6 |
Business Equipment | 1.0 | -0.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 3.2 | 3.6 | -5.3 |
Construction Supplies | 0.9 | -1.2 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 2.8 | 3.5 | 0.9 |
Materials | 0.9 | -0.1 | -0.2 | 0.7 | 5.9 | 2.7 | -3.0 |
Utilities | 0.6 | 3.7 | -4.1 | -0.8 | 4.4 | -0.8 | -0.4 |
Mining | 1.4 | -1.6 | 0.5 | 5.1 | 12.4 | 7.4 | -9.9 |
Capacity Utilization (%) | 77.9 | 77.5 | 77.8 | 79.3 | 78.7 | 76.5 | 75.0 |
Manufacturing | 75.7 | 75.4 | 75.8 | 77.0 | 76.6 | 75.1 | 74.2 |