Total Industrial Production rebounded 1.0% in September following a slight 0.2% dip in August. Output for August was revised 0.1 percent lower. Manufacturing output reversed course in September rising 0.5%. The September jump in total production was the largest increase in 22 months but looking beneath the headlines, half the advance can be accounted for [...]
U.S. BACKBONE OF STEEL HAS TURNED BRITTLE “Steel is power. Any nation that expects to project strength and resolve must produce steel. Throughout US history steel has been an irreplaceable underpinning of our economic and military might. It’s why Abraham Lincoln insisted on building steel plants to supply the biggest infrastructure project of his time: [...]
“US job growth rebounded in September and the jobless rate fell below 6% for the first time since mid-2008 suggesting the labor market is improving faster than previously thought.” Wall Street Journal From the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA): Personal income increased 0.3 percent and disposable personal income increased 0.3 percent in August. The Texas [...]
On Friday the government released its third and final estimate of GDP for the 2nd quarter of 2014. It showed GDP in the April, May, June quarter increased at an annual rate of 4.6%. That’s pretty solid growth. This is not the best way to start the week economically: Led by declines in production-related indicators, [...]
On Friday the Conference Board Leading Economic Index (LEI) was released. The LEI for the US increased 0.2 percent in August following a 1.1 percent increase in July and a 0.7 percent increase in June. The LEI continued to rise in August, although at a slower rate than in July,” said Ataman Ozyildirim, Economist at [...]
US raw steel production dipped 1.5 percent last week ... as mills operated at an average capability utilization rate (ACUR) of 78.4 percent. In the corresponding week last year mills operated at an ACUR of 78.3 percent. On the year mills have operated at an ACUR of 77.2 percent. ISIS Strategy On Wednesday night the [...]
Stronger Demand for American Made Goods The US trade gap narrowed in July reflecting stronger demand for American made goods abroad that could boost the factory sector in coming months. Hostage Horrors Here we go again, Monday afternoon we received reports that another AMERICAN journalist named Steven Sotloff, missing since 2013 and held hostage by [...]
The Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) was released on Monday: Led by improvements in production related indicators, the CFNAI rose to +0.39 in July from +0.21 in June. Three of the four broad categories of indicators that make up the index made positive contributions to the index in July and two of the four [...]
It seems as though world events have taken over the View. I cannot help but review what’s going on in this upside down world. Sometimes I must vent on the things that occur around us. I wish I could just report economic news and write a review of the way things seem to be going [...]
Another week with no economic news of note. So, what is going on and what is my view of those things? Iraq Maliki resigns as prime minister. This is a good thing as the newly forming government should be more inclusive of all Iraqis. In the meantime, we have supplied food and water to those [...]