U.S. Industrial Production Improves In 2nd Quarter, But Metals Shipments Fall

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 economic headlines from the last week:

• According to MSCI’s Metals Activity Report, U.S. service center steel shipments fell 1.4 percent from June 2021 to June 2022 while shipments of aluminum products decreased 4.3 percent. Canadian service center steel shipments fell 12.8 percent year-over-year and shipments of aluminum products fell 18.7 percent.
• Total U.S. industrial production fell 0.2 percent in June but still rose at an annual rate of 6.1 percent for the second quarter. Manufacturing output declined 0.5 percent, but increased at an annual rate of 4.2 percent in the second quarter. Mining advanced 1.7 percent in June while the index for utilities fell 1.4 percent. Click here to read the Federal Reserve’s full report.
• Canadian manufacturing sales fell two percent to $71.6 billion in May as auto production fell. Of particular note: Transportation equipment sales were down 15.7 percent and primary metal sales fell 4.1 percent to $6.3 billion for the month, but still posted the second highest sales on record.
• Canadian wholesale sales rose 1.6 percent from April 2022 to May 2022 due in part to higher sales in the machinery, equipment, and supplies subsector. Specifically, sales in that subsector grew 3.2 percent to $17 billion, an improvement aided by a 17.2 percent gain in farm, lawn, and garden machinery and equipment sales. Click here to read the full report.
• The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s manufacturing survey rose 12 points to +11.1 as new orders increased slightly and shipments expanded significantly. Unfilled orders were lower for the second month. Inventories and labor market indicators also improved. Click here to read the entire report.
• According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 244,000 individuals filed for federal unemployment insurance benefits during the week that ended July 9, an increase of 9,000 from the previous week’s level. The four-week moving average was 235,750, an increase of 3,250 from the week before. During the week that ended July 2, 1.331 million people continued to receive federal jobless benefits, a decline of 41,000 from the previous week. The four-week moving average of continuing claims was just under 1.34 million and also was down from a week before.
• The U.S. producer price index rose 1.1 percent between May 2022 and June 2022 and 11.3 percent between June 2021 and June 2022; the U.S. consumer price index rose 1.3 percent between May and June 2022 and 9.1 percent year-over-year; and prices for U.S. imports increased 0.2 percent in June while export prices rose 0.7 percent.