And We Are Not Yet at the Bottom...
Rex Nutting:
Industrial production slumps 1.1% in May: The nation's industrial output tumbled 1.1% in May, led by big drops in motor vehicles, mining and high-technology products, the Federal Reserve reported Tuesday. The decrease was a bit worse than forecasts of a 1% drop. April's output was revised lower, to a decrease of 0.7% from 0.5% reported earlier. See Economic Calendar.
Output fell to the lowest level in 11 years in May, and is down 13.4% in the past year, the largest year-over-year decline since 1946. Output has fallen in 16 of the past 17 months since the recession began in December 2007. Since that month, industrial output is down 14.8%. Read the full report.
Capacity utilization in industry fell to a record-low 68.3% last month, down from 69%. Capacity utilization -- a key measurement of slack in the economy -- stands 12.6 percentage points below its long-term average. In manufacturing alone, capacity utilization fell to a record-low 65%. The government has tracked capacity data since 1948...
