manufacturing

Manufacturing Contracts - PMI 49% for May 2013

The May ISM Manufacturing Survey shows PMI crumbled by -1.7 percentage points to 49.0%.  Manufacturing has moved into contraction.   Manufacturing also contracted in November 2012 and previous to that, July 2009.  Both new orders and production contracted indicating bad news for the U.S. manufacturing sector and the index details are even more ominous.

 

ISM Manufacturing Index Barely Breaks Even - PMI 50.7% for April 2013

The April 2013 ISM Manufacturing Survey shows PMI slid by -0.6 percentage points to 50.7%.  This is expansion but much slower.   Expansion has occurred for the 5th month in a row., although this is the lowest PMI of 2013.  Overall the report implies a stagnant manufacturing sector, ho hum, and not much to write home about.

 

Industrial Production Rises 0.4% on Utilities for March 2013

The March 2013 Federal Reserve's Industrial Production & Capacity Utilization report shows a monthly increase of 0.4% in industrial production.  March's increase would have been non-existent if the weather hadn't turned cold.  Utilities' output increased 3.5% for March as mining fell -0.2% and Manufacturing dropped -0.1% for the month.  February was revised up to a 1.1% increase, buoyed again by utilities.  Q1 2013 gives an annualized output gain of 5.0%, the largest since Q1 2012.  The Q1 output gain was spurred by utilities, which by itself grew 10.5% for Q1 2013.

ISM Manufacturing Index - PMI 54.2% for February 2013

The February 2013 ISM Manufacturing Survey shows PMI increased by 1.1 percentage points to 54.2% and is in expansion for the 3rd month in a row.  This is the 5th time in nine months manufacturing PMI has been in expansion and the highest manufacturing PMI since June 2011.  Overall the report is solid manufacturing expansion and a pleasant surprise considering U.S. politics.

 

Industrial Production Declines by -0.1% for January 2013

The January 2013 Federal Reserve's Industrial Production & Capacity Utilization report shows a monthly decline of 0.1% in industrial production.  January's decline would have been much worse if the weather hadn't turned cold.  Utilities' output increased 3.5% for January as mining fell 1.0%.  Manufacturing alone dropped -0.4% for the month.

ISM Manufacturing Index - PMI 53.1% for January 2013

The January 2012 ISM Manufacturing Survey shows PMI increased by 2.9 percentage points to 53.1% and is in  expansion for the 2nd month in a row. This is the 4th time in eight months manufacturing PMI has been in expansion. Overall the report is actually modest expansion, although all five indexes which make up PMI were on the positive side. 

 

Payrolls Tread Water Once Again in December 2012

The BLS unemployment report shows total nonfarm payroll jobs gained were 155,000 for December 2012. October was revised down by 1,000 to 137,000 job and November was revised up, from 146,000 to 161,000 in employment gained. Many in the press are implying this is a good report when the monthly gain represents the very weak job growth America have been experiencing for the last two years.

 

Industrial Production Does a Post Superstorm Sandy Bounce, Increases 1.1% for November 2012

Hurricane Sandy has really wreaked havoc with industrial production's monthly percentage changes. Sandy wiped out almost a full percentage point of October's manufacturing production even though the storm hit New Jersey on October 29th. Manufacturing resumed in November, causing a 1.1% increase in manufacturing production.

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