8/17/2015
By Dominique Paul, Research Analyst

For the month of July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its monthly producer price index (PPI) report. July's PPI rose by 0.2% month-over-month after gaining 0.4%.  Year-over-year, final demand PPI is down 0.8% after falling 0.7% in the prior month. The core-PPI, which excludes energy and food, fell 0.8% after falling 0.7% in the prior month.Year-over-year, core-PPI rose by 0.6%, a bit slower than the 0.8% gain observed in June.

The University of Michigan also released a report on consumer sentiment. The university released a flash consumer sentiment reading of 92.9 for the month of August. This is down 20 basis points from July’s final reading. The current conditions component index was essentially unchanged falling slightly 107.1 versus 107.2. However, the expectations component fell to 83.8 from 84.1 in July. Consumer confidence is slightly lower than where it began at the start of the year. When we see improvements in the labor market, confidence should rise substantially.

The Federal Reserve released its monthly production and capacity utilization report for the month of July. The production index rose by 0.6% month-over-month to 107.5. Growth was driven by the motor vehicle industry where production increased by 10.6% month-over-month. Without the motor vehicle industry, industrial production rose by 0.1%. The capacity utilization rate rose to 78.0% from a downwardly revised 77.7% (from 78.4%) in June.

Dominique Paul
Wall Street Strategies

Add a Comment!