Industrial Production Unexpectedly Drops

The S&P 500 is a little bit higher today although the Dow is barely lower. On our Buy List, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) is up to a new 52-week high. ICE is a 13% winner for us this year.

This morning’s report in industrial production showed a sharp drop for September. Output dropped by 1.3%. That’s the biggest fall since February. Wall Street had been expecting a gain of 0.2%. Once again, the problem is supply-chain disruptions. The number for August was revised downward to a loss of 0.1% from a gain of 0.4%.

From the Wall Street Journal:

Manufacturing output, the biggest component of industrial production, fell 0.7% in September compared with August. Motor vehicle and parts production decreased 7.2% amid the shortage of semiconductors.

The lingering effects of Hurricane Ida also contributed to the drop in manufacturing, by 0.3 percentage point, the Fed said.

Despite the bad number for September, industrial production has recovered nicely in the last year. Compared with a year ago, industrial production is up 4.6%.

Posted by on October 18th, 2021 at 12:50 pm


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