Updated: 17-Aug-17 09:54 ET
| July Industrial Production |
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| Updated: 17-Aug-17 09:54 ET |
Highlights
- Industrial Production increased 0.2% in July (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%) while the capacity utilization rate hit 76.7%, remaining unchanged from the revised June rate (revised from 76.6%).
Key Factors
- The capacity utilization rate in July was 3.2 percentage points below its long-run (1792-2016) average
- The July uptick in total industrial production was led by utilities output, which increased 1.6% following a revised 1.2% decline (from +0.8%) in June.
- Manufacturing output dipped 0.1% after an unrevised increase of 0.2% in June
- Motor vehicle assemblies were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 10.29 million units in July, down 7.1% month-over-month
- On a year-over-year basis, total industrial production is up 2.2%
Big Picture
- The key takeaway from the report is that factory output in July remained at levels seen in February. The lack of significant change in capacity utilization suggests that the resource slack will persist, tempering inflation expectations.
| Category | JUL | JUN | MAY | APR | MAR |
| Industrial Production | |||||
| Total Index | 0.2% | 0.4% | 0.0% | 0.9% | 0.2% |
| Manufacturing | -0.1% | 0.2% | -0.6% | 1.1% | -0.7% |
| Utilities | 1.6% | -1.2% | 2.8% | 0.1% | 8.2% |
| Mining | 0.5% | 2.0% | 1.0% | 0.6% | -0.4% |
| Capacity Utilization | |||||
| Total Industry | 76.7% | 76.7% | 76.5% | 76.5% | 75.9% |
| Manufacturing | 75.4% | 75.5% | 75.4% | 75.4% | 75.1% |
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