Updated: 17-Mar-20 09:46 ET
| February Industrial Production |
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| Updated: 17-Mar-20 09:46 ET |
Highlights
- Industrial production increased 0.6% m/m in February, as expected, following a downwardly revised 0.5% decline (from -0.3%) in January.
- Total capacity utilization was 77.0% (Briefing.com consensus 77.1%) following a downwardly revised 76.6% (from 76.8%) in January.
Key Factors
- Manufacturing output increased 0.1%, helped by a 0.3% increase in the production of durable goods. Motor vehicle assemblies increased to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 11.30 million units from 10.72 million in January.
- Mining output slumped 1.5% following a 1.0% increase in January.
- Utilities surged 7.1% on increased heating demand after declining 4.9% in a warmer-than-usual January.
- On a yr/yr basis, industrial production was flat.
- The total capacity utilization rate of 76.8% is 2.8 percentage points below its long-run average.
Big Picture
- The key takeaway from the report is that the good feelings about the pickup in output in February will be stunted by the reality that March output is apt to look much worse given the economic shutdown measures employed to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.
| Category | FEB | JAN | DEC | NOV | OCT |
| Industrial Production | |||||
| Total Index | 0.6% | -0.5% | -0.4% | 0.9% | -0.4% |
| Manufacturing | 0.1% | -0.2% | 0.1% | 0.9% | -0.6% |
| Utilities | 7.1% | -4.9% | -5.7% | 3.0% | 0.3% |
| Mining | -1.5% | 1.0% | 0.8% | 0.7% | -0.1% |
| Capacity Utilization | |||||
| Total Industry | 77.0% | 76.6% | 77.1% | 77.6% | 77.0% |
| Manufacturing | 75.0% | 75.0% | 75.2% | 75.2% | 74.6% |
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