Led by improvements in production related indicators, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) increased to -0.30 in May from 0-0.52 in April. The index’s 3 month moving average, CFNAI-MA3, decreased to -0.43 in May from -0.13 in April, marking the third consecutive reading below zero and its lowest level since October 2012. May’s CFNAI-MA3 [...]
US raw steel production inched up 0.4 percent last week as mills operated at an annual capability utilization rate (ACUR) of 77.9 percent. In the corresponding week last year mills operated at an ACUR of 80.9 percent. On the year mills have operated at an ACUR of 76.2 percent compared to the same period last [...]
Last Friday (2/15) the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve system issued a revision to the January 2013 industrial production numbers which showed a contraction of 0.1 percent after having risen 0.4 percent in December and 1.7 percent in November. For the fourth quarter as a whole, manufacturing production as a whole, is now [...]