Industrial production grew by just 0.1% in May following no gain in April. Capacity utilization held steady at 76.7% – yes, there’s still slack in the economy and that’s helping to minimize the impact higher commodity prices have had on inflation.
But looking behind the latest numbers, the sector is not fairing as poorly as the headline figures might suggest – or how the New York Fed’s survey indicated this morning.
Held down by falling utility production, manufacturing ex-energy grew by a respectable 0.5%, more than erasing April’s drop of 0.4%.
We’re continuing to see the lingering impact from the earthquake in Japan on the auto industry, but if we remove both energy and autos (that leaves us with almost two-thirds remaining) production increased by 0.6%, the best reading since January.
Overall, the data were encouraging.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
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