November 2008

The U.S. economy is in the midst of a severe recession and will face serious challenges through 2009, according to a new report.
 
The Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI Quarterly Economic Forecast says that inflation-adjusted GDP growth decelerated to 1.4% in 2008 and will decline 1% in 2009. The 2009 GDP forecast is down from 1.3% growth projected in MAPI’s previous quarterly report in August.
 
Manufacturing production growth will sink into negative territory in 2008, declining 1.4% following an already low 1.7% growth in 2007. It is likely to fall further in 2009, declining by a significant 4.2%. The previous quarterly MAPI report had forecast production to decline by 0.5% in 2008 and to grow by 1.6% next year.
 
Production in …

Canadian manufacturing sales edged up 0.1% to $52.2 billion in September after a sizeable 3.7% decrease in August.
 
However, measured in constant dollars, manufacturing sales rose 0.7% compared with August as a result of decreasing industrial product prices. The constant dollar measurement takes price fluctuations into account, providing an indicator of the volume of sales during the month. The constant dollar gain in September followed a notable 4.0% decrease in August.
 
At the industry level, 13 of 21 manufacturing industries increased in September.
 
By Sector
The transportation equipment industry (+1.1%) reported the largest gain in September, increasing for the fourth time in five months. …

Wholesale prices fell 2.8% in October, seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported . This decrease followed a 0.4-percent decline in September and a 0.9-percent fall in August. At the earlier stages of processing, prices received by manufacturers of intermediate goods moved down 3.9% in October after declining 1.2% in September, and the crude goods index dropped 18.6% subsequent to a 7.9-percent decrease in the previous month.
 
Among finished goods in October, prices for energy goods fell 12.8% compared with a 2.9-percent decline a month earlier. The index for consumer foods edged down 0.2% following a 0.2-percent increase in the prior month. Prices for goods other than foods and energy rose 0.4% for the second …

Industrial production increased 1.3% in October after a downwardly revised decline of 3.7% in September, the Federal Reserve reported. The revision to September output resulted, in part, from a larger estimate of the impact of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike on the chemical industry.
 
Manufacturing production, which dropped 3.7% in September, rose 0.6% in October. The output of mines advanced 6.1%, as most crude oil and natural gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico were brought back online after the hurricanes. The output of utilities rose 0.4%.
 
Industrial production in September and October was substantially affected by the hurricanes and a strike in the commercial aircraft industry. Excluding these special factors, total industrial production is estimated to have …