U.S. Industrial Production Declined In October

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

• U.S. Industrial production fell 0.3 percent in October. A strike at a major producer of civilian aircraft reduced growth by an estimated 0.3 percentage points in September and 0.2 percentage points in October. Hurricanes Milton and Helene also cut growth 0.1 percentage point. In October, manufacturing output fell 0.5 percent, the index for mining rose 0.3 percent, and the index for utilities gained 0.7 percent.
• There was good news this month for manufacturing in the New York region. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s manufacturing index advanced an incredible 43 points in November to hit +31.2, the index’s highest reading in nearly three years. New orders and shipments rose substantially while labor market conditions pointed to steady employment levels and a longer average workweek. Read the full report at this link.
• Canadian manufacturing sales fell 0.5 percent to $69.1 billion in September 2024, the second consecutive monthly decline. The drop was due mainly to lower sales of petroleum and coal products, which fell 7.5 percent, and a 4.2 percent decline in the production of aerospace products and parts. Excluding petroleum and coal, total manufacturing sales increased 0.4 percent in September.
• U.S. import prices increased 0.3 percent in October due to higher nonfuel and fuel prices. The price index for U.S. exports rose 0.8 percent in October, after declining 0.6 percent the previous month.
• In October, U.S. inflation readings rose a bit from previous months. Specifically, the U.S. Producer Price Index increased 0.2 percent between September 2024 and October 2024 and 2.4 percent between October 2023 and October 2024 while the U.S. Consumer Price Index was up 0.2 percent in October as well, but rose 2.6 percent year-over-year.
• Real average hourly earnings for all U.S. employees increased 0.1 percent from September to October and 1.4 percent year-over-year.
• The number of people who applied for U.S. unemployment benefits for the first time stood at 217,000 during the week that ended Nov. 9, a figure that was down by 4,000 from the week before. Averaged over the past four weeks, first-time claims fell to 221,000. In all, nearly 1.873 million people claimed jobless benefits during the week that ended Nov. 2, a number that was down by 11,000 from the week before.