Headline production also got a big boost from utilities where output rose 2.4 percent in the month. Mining output, which is down 10.5 percent year-on-year, posted a second straight small gain, at plus 0.2 percent which is promising and follows the recovery in energy and commodity prices.
Looking at details deeper in the report, the output of business equipment rose a solid 0.7 percent but the year-on-year rate, in what is definitive evidence of weakness in business investment, is in the negative column at minus 0.6 percent. The output of consumer goods, up 1.6 percent on the year, rose 1.1 percent in the month in what is another good showing in this report.
The second quarter had been looking soft before this report and especially this morning's retail sales report. A June bounce in the factory sector, facing global weakness and unfavorable currency appreciation, may not extend much into the third quarter but it may make a difference in the final readings of the second quarter.
Recent History Of This Indicator
A steep drop in vehicle production was a major negative for industrial production in May, falling 0.4 percent overall and also 0.4 percent for manufacturing where declines swept categories. But forecasters see a solid bounce back for June, at a consensus plus 0.4 percent overall and plus 0.3 percent for manufacturing. The factory sector has been held down all year by weak foreign markets, markets that are at risk of further retrenchment in reaction to Brexit.
A steep drop in vehicle production was a major negative for industrial production in May, falling 0.4 percent overall and also 0.4 percent for manufacturing where declines swept categories. But forecasters see a solid bounce back for June, at a consensus plus 0.4 percent overall and plus 0.3 percent for manufacturing. The factory sector has been held down all year by weak foreign markets, markets that are at risk of further retrenchment in reaction to Brexit.
No comments:
Post a Comment