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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Fed Records 1 percent Increase for Manufacturing in April

05/14/2010
The Federal Reserve reports today in its release of Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization statistics that industrial production increased 0.8 percent overall during the month of April, after rising 0.2 percent in March.

Manufacturing output grew 1 percent in April and was 6 percent higher than at the same time last year. Total industrial output in April reached 5.2 percent higher than the previous year's level.

In the market groups category, consumer goods production grew by 0.2 percent. Automotive and home electronics production fell, but the manufacture of appliances, furniture, and carpeting all recorded gains. The defense and space equipment sectors advanced by 0.5 percent in April, and was 8 percent higher than the previous year.

Construction supplies output grew 2.8 percent in April. Nondurable materials including textile, paper, and chemicals grew by 1.1 percent last month, while durable materials rose by 1.6 percent.

For industry groups, the production index for durable goods grew by 1.1 in April. All durables sectors saw gains except for motor vehicles, aerospace, and miscellaneous transportation equipment. Non-metallic minerals, primary metals, machinery, electrical equipment, appliances, and components reported growth of 2 percent.

As for nondurable manufacturing, petroleum and coal output climbed 3.6 percent, the plastics and rubber products index grew by 2.7 percent, and paper production gained 2.4 percent.

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