U.S. Industrial Production Expanded In January

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

• According to the Federal Reserve, U.S. industrial production increased 1.4 percent in January. Manufacturing output and mining production rose 0.2 percent and one percent, respectively, while utilities’ output jumped 9.9 percent. At 103.5 percent of its 2017 average, January industrial production was 4.1 percent higher than a year earlier and 2.1 percent above its pre-pandemic (February 2020) reading.
• Canadian manufacturing sales rose 0.7 percent from November 2021 to December 2021, the third straight monthly increase, and were up 16.6 percent from December 2020 to December 2021. While sales increased in 11 of the 21 sectors, shipments of motor vehicle, plastic, and rubber products saw the biggest gains. Read the full report here.
• Wholesale sales in Canada expanded for the fifth month in a row in December, rising 0.6 percent to $76.2 billion. Sales were up in five of seven subsectors, including motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts and accessories where sales rose 3.3 percent. Sales of machinery, equipment, and supplies advanced 1.6 percent.
• Prices for U.S. imports rose two percent in January 2022 due to higher fuel and nonfuel prices. U.S. export prices rose 2.9 percent in January after declining 1.6 percent in December. Read the full report here.
• The Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index, a key gauge of future economic growth, decreased by 0.3 percent in January to 119.6 due to the Omicron variant wave, rising prices, and supply chain disruptions.
• The Federal Reserve Bank of New York manufacturing survey rose four points to +3.1 in February. New orders and shipments both held steady while readings for unfilled orders and employment increased. Looking ahead, firms said they generally expect conditions to improve over the next six months, but optimism did decline to its lowest level since mid-2020. The reading from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia fell, meanwhile. It declined seven points to +16 as the index for new orders declined four points and the current shipments index fell seven points to 13.4, its lowest reading since August 2020.
• According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 248,000 individuals filed for federal unemployment benefits for the first time in the week that ended February 12, an increase of 23,000 from the previous week. The four-week moving average of first-time claims fell, however, while the number of individuals who continued to receive benefits fell during the week of February 5.
• In other economic news: the U.S. producer price index increased one percent from December 2021 to January 2022 and 9.7 percent from January 2021 to January 2022; Canada’s consumer price index increased 5.1 percent year-over-year, the biggest jump in three decades; technology orders by U.S. manufacturers rose to $5.9 billion last in 2021, the highest level ever; the number of new homes under construction in the United States fell 4.1 percent between December 2021 and January 2022, but were up 0.8 percent year-over-year.