U.S. Industrial Production Up Slightly In February

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

• S. industrial production increased 0.1 percent from January 2024 to February 2024. Manufacturing output rose 0.8 percent and the reading for mining production climbed 2.2 percent. The index for utilities fell 7.5 percent in February, however, because of warmer-than-typical temperatures. Read the full report here.
• Canadian manufacturing sales  rose 0.2 percent in January due to higher sales in 11 of the 21 subsectors. Advances in shipments of transportation equipment (up 4.3 percent) and chemicals (up 3.5 percent) led the improvement while shipments of aerospace product and parts fell 16.7 percent.
• S. import prices rose 0.3 percent in February after advancing 0.8 percent in January. Prices for U.S. exports increased 0.8 percent in February following a 0.9 percent improvement druing the previous month. Read the full report here.
• The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s manufacturing index declined 19 points to -20.9 in March. Demand softened as new orders were down significantly, and shipments also were lower. Unfilled orders continued to shrink, and inventories also fell. Additionally, labor market indicators weakened because employment and hours worked both decreased.
• The National Federation of Independent Business’ Small Business Optimism Index fell in February to 89.4. It was the 26th consecutive month that the reading was below the 50-year average of 98. Twenty-three percent of small business owners reported inflation was their single most important business problem, up three points from last month and replacing labor quality as the top problem. Read the full report here.
• The number of people who applied for U.S. unemployment benefits for the first time fell by 1,000 to 209,000 during the week that ended March 9. Averaged over the past four weeks, first-time claims fell to 208,000. In all, roughly 1.811 million people claimed jobless benefits in the United States during the week that ended March 2.
• In other economic news: in the United States, real average hourly earnings fell 0.4 percent from January 2024 to February 2024 and rose 1.1 percent from February 2023 to February 2024; the U.S. producer price index increased 0.6 percent from January to February and 1.6 percent year-over-year; and the U.S. consumer price index rose 0.4 percent between January and February and 3.2 percent year-over-year.