US December industrial production data
- Largest rise since July
- Prior +0.4% (revised to +0.5%)
- Capacity utilization 74.5% vs. 73.6% estimate.
- Prior capacity utilization 73.3%
- Manufacturing production +0.9% vs +0.5% exp
- Prior manufacturing production +0.8%
The retail sales report highlighted how strong demand was for autos and building materials but even excluding autos/parts, production was up 1.8% m/m.
A big assumption coming out of the pandemic is that the consumer will have lots to spend on services but how demand develops on the industrial side is less clear and I see risks to the downside.
