Data released on Thursday revealed negativity in US industrial production indicators during the month of January, as the reading was contrary to market expectations, as US industrial production recorded a contraction of 0.1%, while market expectations indicated industrial production growing by 0.2%, after... It had recorded a growth of 0.1% last December, and was subsequently revised downwards, with industrial production stabilizing at zero levels.
It should be noted that this indicator measures the change in the value of inflation-adjusted production produced by factories, mines and public facilities. Therefore, this indicator is one of the leading indicators that express the health of the economy, as production is quickly affected by the business cycle, and it is also linked to the consumer situation, with regard to employment levels and wages.
The industrial production index is considered one of the important indicators for measuring the health of the economy, as production is quickly affected by business cycle fluctuations in addition to its connection to consumer conditions such as: employment levels and profits.
Also, industrial production and the rate of capacity utilization do not only represent the trend in the manufacturing sector, but the two indicators show whether capacities are being utilized sufficiently to anticipate inflation rates or not? In addition, industrial production measures the current output of the economy. It helps in identifying turning points in the business cycle, such as the beginning of a recession and the beginning of a recovery phase.
