While headlines, we are sure, will crow of industrial production's best gain in six months, the sad fact is that the market was expecting more. At +0.4% - against an expectation of +0.5% - this is the 5th month in a row of missed expectations for this significant indicator of economic health. Capacity utilization rose but also missed expectations printing at the worst 6-month rate of change in 10 months. It seems manufacturing and mining got a modest boost (the former bounced more than expected but only thanks to a notable prior revision downward) and Utilities dragged the headline index down - so we await the "it's the weather's fault" remarks.
5th miss in a row for IP...
[4]
and while capacity Utilization rose very modestly, it also missed expectations and is hardly signalling 'recovery'...
as the 6-month rate of change dropped to its lowest in 10 months...
[5]
Charts: Bloomberg