Industrial Production Up

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Bloomberg reports industrial production has risen for the third time in the last four months and continues to fuel the expansion of the U.S. economy.

From the story:

U.S. industrial production probably rose in February for a third month in the last four, indicating manufacturing remains a stalwart of the expansion, economists said before a report this week.

Output at factories, mines and utilities climbed 0.6 percent after a 0.1 percent decrease in January, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey ahead of Federal Reserve figures on March 17. Other data may show less home construction and contained inflation excluding food and fuel.

Orders are rising at companies like Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN), signaling factories are boosting an economy still held back by housing-market weakness. With wage growth restrained and limited signs businesses are passing along higher energy costs, Fed policy makers meeting this week may stick to their plan of buying Treasuries aimed at bolstering growth.

“Manufacturing has been a driver of the recovery thus far and this will remain the case,” said Tom Porcelli, chief U.S. economist at RBC Capital Markets Corp. in New York. “Demand is starting to return and inventories are light relative to that, so restocking will provide a boost. For the Fed, it’ll be fairly status quo on policy, except for some comment about firmer energy and commodity prices.”

Read the full story here.

– The Editors