June witnessed an unexpected downturn in US industrial production, as reported by the Federal Reserve on Tuesday. The drop, particularly noticeable in consumer durables such as automotive goods and carpets, marks the second monthly decrease in a row, signalling a potential slowing down of production.
This 0.5 percent reduction in industrial output largely stemmed from a 2.7 percent slump in the consumer durables index - a category that includes household items like appliances and furniture. Alongside, consumer nondurables also experienced a contraction of 0.9 percent, primarily due to the shrinking production of clothing, energy, food and tobacco.
These figures were below economists' projections as surveyed by MarketWatch.
Amid the general downtrend, the production of defense and space equipment presented an anomaly, registering a 1.5 percent growth last month.
The downturn in industrial production and manufacturing output during the end of the second quarter was steeper than expected, stated Rubeela Farooqi, the chief US economist at High Frequency Economics, in a note to her clients. She identified weakening goods demand and surging borrowing costs as challenges for manufacturers. However, she highlighted that if demand stabilizes and onshoring along with infrastructure spending persists, the forthcoming months could witness an uptick in factory activity.
In the backdrop of these developments, the US central bank halted its streak of interest rate increases, after 10 consecutive hikes. This allows the policymakers to further evaluate the health of the world's largest economy.
Despite the aggressive monetary policies last year, inflation remains marginally above the Fed's long-term target of two percent. Nevertheless, the labor market demonstrates resilience, and the overall economic condition appears stable.
Even with the recorded monthly decreases in May and June, the second quarter saw an annual rise of 0.7 percent in industrial production, the Fed highlighted.
The central bank hinted last month at the necessity of two more quarter percentage-point hikes this year, with the first possibly coming as early as the following Wednesday.
