- Prior 0.3%
- Capacity utilisation 78.5% vs 79.3% exp. Prior 79.2%
- Manufacturing output -0.8% vs +0.1% exp. Prior 0.4%
Biggest drop since 2009 and the buck gets hit on yet another soft piece of data. USD/JPY down to 101.77 from 101.86. EUR/USD spikes to 1.3706 from 1.3694.
Falls across the board in nearly all categories.
- Consumer goods -0.5% vs +0.6% prior
- Construction supplies -1.0% vs -0.6% in Dec
- Durables -0.8% vs -0.5% prior, non durables -0.8% vs +1.2% prior
- Motors and parts -5.0% vs +0.1% prior
- Mining -0.9% vs +1.9% prior
- Utilities the only notable gain at +4.1% from -1.4% in Dec
The big fall in capacity also seen in motors and parts down to 74.3% from 78.4%. Capacity had been trending up nicely over the last few years, albeit at a relatively slow pace, so it’s not something to be worried about just yet. There may obviously be weather related problems associated with the numbers.
