Industrial Production increased by 0.1% in February to an index value of 101.0 (2002=100), better than the expected decrease of 0.1% following a 0.9% increase in January. Over the year, the industrial production index is up by 1.7%. Capacity Utilization was reported at 72.7%, an increase from the revised level of 72.5% for January, but 7.9 percentage points below its average for the period from 1972 through 2009. In February 2009, Capacity Utilization was measured at 70.6%.
Net Foreign Purchases for January decreased to $19.1 billion, following a December decrease of $63.3 billion from $126.4 billion in November. Net foreign purchases of long-term U.S. securities were $36.1 billion, $40.3 billion of which were from private foreign investors and net purchases by foreign official institutions were negative $4.2 billion. U.S. residents purchased a net $17.0 billion of long-term foreign securities.
Upcoming Releases
Housing Starts (03/16 at 8:30 AM EST)
Building Permits (03/16 at 8:30 AM EST)
FOMC Policy Statement (03/16 at 2:15 PM EST)
PPI (03/17 at 8:30 AM EST)
