Industry is strengthening

Dating back to the spring of 2009 industrial production in the United States has been one of the strongest economic sectors.  So when industrial production slipped in June along with other disappointing economic news, there was a mini-panic.  However, July’s numbers were again positive.

The Federal Reserve reports this morning that U.S. industrial production was up 1% in July.  Additionally, capacity utilization rose to 74.8% from 74.1%.  These results were better than expected.

Analysis: These numbers are more symbolically important than actually important because industrial production is but a small piece of the U.S. economic pie.  What was important is that sans automobile production, output was still positive.  This is important because auto sales have been very strong in the U.S.

Importance grade: 6.

Jason