WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s industrial output plunged in April, reflecting big cutbacks in automaking and other manufacturing industries.þþThe Federal Reserve reported on Thursday that industrial production dropped 0.7 percent last month, more than double the decline that economists had expected.þþManufacturing output fell by 0.8 percent. Half of that weakness came from large cutbacks in auto production because of falling demand for new cars and problems related to a strike at a parts supplier for General Motors.þþThe drop in overall production matched a 0.7 percent decline in February and followed a weak 0.2 percent increase in March. It pushed the industrial operating rate to its lowest point in more than two years. Factories, mines and utilities operated at 79.7 percent of capacity last month. It was the first time the operating rate had been below 80 percent since October 2005, when it stood at 79.8 percent because of disruptions from the Gulf Coast hurricanes.þþOutput in the mining sector declined by 0.8 percent last month, while output at utilities edged up by 0.3 percent.þþIn other economic news, the Labor Department reported on Thursday that applications for jobless benefits rose by 6,000 last week, to 371,000. The gain was in line with expectations.þþThe weak economy has resulted in four consecutive months of job losses, often a sign that a recession has started. The April drop was just one-fourth the size of job losses in March, however, giving hope that the current economic slowdown might not be as severe as the last two recessions.þþThe increase of 6,000 claims applications last week was the smallest one-week move in about two months. Claims have been unusually volatile in recent weeks, reflecting strike-related layoffs in the auto industry and trouble the government had in seasonally adjusting the data to take into account an unusually early Easter.þþFor the week ended May 3, the total number of people receiving unemployment benefits rose by 28,000, to 3.06 million. It was the third consecutive week that this figure had been above three million, another sign that the weak economy is having an adverse effect on the labor market.þþThe number of states and territories reporting increases in claims applications for the week of May 3 totaled 26, while 27 reported decreasing claims.þþNew York State had the biggest rise in claims, a jump of 11,414 that was attributed to higher layoffs in transportation and service industries, followed by Pennsylvania, where claims increased by 2,716.þþMassachusetts had the biggest drop in claims, a decline of 5,027, which was attributed to fewer layoffs in transportation and services. Other states with big declines were New Jersey, down 3,259, and Georgia, with a drop of 2,935.þþ
Source: NY Times
