Business conditions in the New York region improved more than expected in April but growth remained “fairly subdued”, according to a survey released by the New York Fed on Monday.
US industrial production up 1.4% in March
Industrial production in the United States went up by 1.4% in March compared to the month before, data released by the Federal Reserve unveiled on Thursday. The increase came in below the analysts’ expectations. On an annual basis, total industrial production gained 1%. Manufacturing output was up 2.7% month on month while mining climbed 5.7% on a monthly basis. On the other hand, utilities output dropped 11.4%. The capacity utilization in the industrial sector in March stood at 74.4%, up by 1 percentage point month on month but down 5.2 percentage points below its long-run average.
Business inventories in US up 0.5% in February
United States inventories in the manufacturing and trade sectors climbed 0.5% month-on-month in February to reach $2,010.8 billion, the Census Bureau reported on Thursday. Compared to February 2020, the figure was 0.7% lower. The combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments, adjusted for seasonal and trading-day differences, was estimated at $1,549.6 billion. On a monthly basis, the statistic was 1.9%, while it grew 5.7% per annum. Seasonally adjusted business to sales ratio stood at 1.30 in February, down from last year’s ratio of 1.38.
US retail sales up by 9.8% in March
Advance estimates of retail and food services sales in the United States, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences but not for price changes, rose by 9.8% from the previous month to reach $619.1 billion, way above analysts’ expectations, the Census Bureau’s report revealed on Thursday. Total sales for the period starting with January throughout March went up by 14.3% in comparison to the same period the previous year. Retail trade sales increased by 9.4% on a monthly level and by a staggering 26.9% on an annual basis. Meanwhile, motor vehicle and parts dealers and food services and drinking places both saw a significant year-on-year growth of 71.1% and 36.0%, respectively.
Weekly Jobless Claims Fall More Than Expected, Showing Recovery Underway in US Job Market
Initial jobless claims in the United States for the week ending April 10 decreased by 193,000 compared to the previous week’s revised figure to land at 576,000, the US Department of Labor reported on Thursday. The four-week moving average was 683,000, down by 47,250 compared to the prior week’s revised average. The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate for the week ending April 3 was 2.7%, 0.1 percentage point up in comparison to unrevised numbers from the prior week. The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the same week was 3,731,000, up by 4,000 from the previous week’s revised figure. The four-week moving average was the lowest since March 28, 2020, and stood at 3,763,000, falling by 98,000 compared to the previous week’s revised average of 3,861,000. Nick Note: forget the weasel words in these reports they are the best i have ever seen. And they lag in time one to two months……. This economy is a rocket ship