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Last Update: 15-Dec-11 10:02 ET
Industrial Production Declines for the First Time Since April
Industrial production declined 0.2% in November after increasing 0.7% in October. The Briefing.com consensus expected industrial production to increase 0.2%.
After increasing 0.5% in October, manufacturing production fell 0.4% in November.
While the decline in manufacturing is disappointing, the sector had been running hot for the past few months. In this situation, a slight pullback is not unusual or a sign of trending weakness. In fact, the New York Fed's Empire Manufacturing Survey already showed a pickup in manufacturing activities in December. Our expectation is that solid growth across the manufacturing sector will return next month.
Half of the decline in manufacturing production in November can be attributed to weakness in motor vehicle production.
Motor vehicle assemblies fell from 9.15 mln SAAR in October to 8.66 mln SAAR in November. That is the lowest number of assemblies since July. Auto assemblies declined from 3.17 mln SAAR in October to 3.11 mln SAAR in November. Truck assemblies declined from 5.71 mln SAAR to 5.29 mln SAAR.
Outside of the motor vehicle sector, most manufacturing sectors edged downward, which was in-line with the weakness seen in the November Fed regional manufacturing surveys.
Mining production, which increased 2.1% in October, slowed and increased only 0.1% in November. Utilities production rebounded and increased 0.2% in November after declining in each of the previous three months.
After increasing 0.5% in October, manufacturing production fell 0.4% in November.
While the decline in manufacturing is disappointing, the sector had been running hot for the past few months. In this situation, a slight pullback is not unusual or a sign of trending weakness. In fact, the New York Fed's Empire Manufacturing Survey already showed a pickup in manufacturing activities in December. Our expectation is that solid growth across the manufacturing sector will return next month.
Half of the decline in manufacturing production in November can be attributed to weakness in motor vehicle production.
Motor vehicle assemblies fell from 9.15 mln SAAR in October to 8.66 mln SAAR in November. That is the lowest number of assemblies since July. Auto assemblies declined from 3.17 mln SAAR in October to 3.11 mln SAAR in November. Truck assemblies declined from 5.71 mln SAAR to 5.29 mln SAAR.
Outside of the motor vehicle sector, most manufacturing sectors edged downward, which was in-line with the weakness seen in the November Fed regional manufacturing surveys.
Mining production, which increased 2.1% in October, slowed and increased only 0.1% in November. Utilities production rebounded and increased 0.2% in November after declining in each of the previous three months.
