Sluggish industrial production

Following three solid monthly advances, industrial production in October increased a scant 0.1%. Last month's gain occurred because October's cold weather produced a 1.6% rise in utility production. Hence, remove the energy component and manufacturing fell 0.1%, the first drop since June.

The small rise in the headline figure produced a 0.2% rise in capacity utilization to 70.7%, but with plenty of slack in the economy, the threat of inflation remains distant at this time, which the Fed made very clear in its last statement.

The economy is still moving ahead, but the recovery is fragile and the pace remains choppy as evidenced by the latest numbers.