U.S. Industrial Activity Expands

Connecting the Dots monitors all major economic announcements in the United States and Canada, but MSCI also offers industrial metals industry-specific data products that provide much deeper analysis and insight. Visit MSCI’s website and click on Industry Data to learn more about our Metals Activity Report (MAR), Momentum Monitors, and Economic Opportunity and Risk Tracker.

Meanwhile, here are the major headlines from the last week:

• S. industrial production advanced 0.9 percent in March and rose at an annual rate of 8.1 percent for the first quarter. Manufacturing output gained 0.9 percent in March; the index for utilities increased 0.4 percent; and the index for mining advanced 1.7 percent. Read more here.
• Canadian manufacturing sales rose 4.2 percent to $67.7 billion in February due to strong gains in the automotive industry. In all, sales improved in 14 of 21 industries during February to mark the fifth consecutive month of gains. Read the full report here.
• Manufacturing has so far remained strong in various regions of the United States in April. Specifically, the regional Federal Reserve banks of Philadelphia, and New York both reported moderate to strong expansion in their areas this month.
• Inflation continues to rise significantly in the United States and Canada. The S. producer price index rose 1.4 percent from February 2022 to March 2022 and 11.2 percent between March 2021 and March 2022; producer prices in Canada rose four percent in March 2022, the most significant acceleration in 66 years; and Canada’s consumer price index jumped 6.7 percent from March 2021 to March 2022, the biggest year-over-year increase since 1991. Additionally, U.S. consumer prices rose 1.2 percent in March and 8.5 percent over the past 12 months.
• The U.S. Department of Labor said 184,000 individuals filed for federal unemployment benefits for the first time during the week of April 16. That number was a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week. About 1.42 million people continued to receive benefits, the lowest number since 1970.
• In other economic news: Canadian retail sales increased 0.1 percent to $59.9 billion in February while core retail sales, which exclude sales at gas stations and motor vehicle and parts dealers, rose 1.4 percent; the number of new homes under construction in the United States rose 0.3 percent from February 2022 to March 2022 and 3.9 percent between March 2021 and March 2022; and existing home sales in the United States fell 2.7 percent from February to March and 4.5 percent year-over-year.