Industrial Production in U.S. Rises for a Fifth Month
Source: Bloomberg
By Michelle Jamrisko - Jan 17, 2014
Industrial production in the U.S. rose for a fifth month in December, capping the strongest quarter since 2010 and indicating manufacturing (IPMGCHNG) is helping propel the economy.
Output at factories, mines and utilities climbed 0.3 percent after a revised 1 percent increase in November, figures from the Federal Reserve showed today in Washington. The gain matched the median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg survey. Manufacturing production rose more than projected.
Industrial output rose at a 6.8 percent annual rate in the final three months of last year, the most since the second quarter of 2010. Manufacturing will be a source of strength for the economy as factory floors stay busy filling orders for home-construction materials, appliances and automobiles, while overseas markets expand.
Pretty clearly theres been a pickup in manufacturing in the last couple months, said Jim OSullivan, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economy in Valhalla, New York, the top-ranked forecaster of production in the past two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Certainly you have to start with the consumer in the last couple of months and theres been a pretty strong pace in goods consumption.
Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-17/industrial-production-in-u-s-rose-for-fifth-month-in-december.html