US Industrial Production and Capacity Utilisation

US Industrial Production and Capacity Utilisation important as they may have "the potential to add to inflation pressures": "In November, US industrial production recovered further following the hit it took from the US hurricanes. The recovery is expected to continue in December, with a 0.6% rise expected, bringing annual growth to 2.7% (down from 2.8% in November). Indicators such as the manufacturing ISM survey point to robust growth in industrial production continuing.

Capacity utilisation is on the rise again following a small slip on the back of the hurricanes. At its current level of 80.2%, capacity utilisation is modestly below its long-term average. The Fed has said that, “possible increases in resource utilization … have the potential to add to inflation pressures”. So developments in capacity utilisation bear close monitoring. The market expects a further rise in December to 80.5%.