Industrial production rose in a fairly broad-based pickup in August, according to the Fed data. The central bank also said production jumped 1 percent in July, twice as much as originally reported. Car manufacturing drove that gain.
Factory output — the single-biggest slice of overall industrial activity — also rose for the second straight month. It posted a 0.6 percent gain in August, following a 1.4 percent rise in July.
Auto production led the way, rising 5.5 percent last month due mainly to the government’s Cash for Clunkers program. That followed a whopping 20.1 percent gain in July.
It will be interesting to see the figures for September.
Source: Federal Reserve
mfg production ex-autos is up 2.1% q/q annualised and the y/y number is stabilising. There is more evidence of 'distortion' in retail sales than IP, cf. the seasonal adjustment factor and comments from ICSC that back-to-school sales moved from Jul to Aug.
ReplyDeletethis was meant to be less of a comment in overall production (my post on that yesterday was that i was surprised to see the breadth of the strength) and more related to autos and what can happen (i.e. a HUGE jump) when the government intervenes.
ReplyDeletewhat happens after the government is gone will be key.
http://www.autoobserver.com/2009/09/september-on-track-to-be-years-lowest-for-car-sales.html#more
ReplyDeleteThis will give you a pretty good idea of where we are heading...
what happens when the govt is gone [ie clunkers is finished]? see france for a template.
ReplyDelete