Modest Increase for Industrial Production last month

By Rick Moran

The nation's industrial sector saw modest gains for September as the credit crunch and sub-prime mortgage crisis appear not to have impacted manufacturing much at all.

Production rose at 0.1% as did Manufacturing output:

August's production change, however, was revised down to unchanged from a previously reported 0.2 percent gain.

Manufacturing output rose after a revised 0.4 percent decline in August. Durable goods production slipped 0.1 percent, with declines in motor vehicles, wood products and furniture. Output at utilities edged down 0.1 percent while production at mines expanded 0.2 percent.

On a quarterly basis, industrial production rose 4 percent over the July-September period, the biggest quarterly gain in a year.

Despite low inflation, low unemployment, low interest rates, and a record breaking stock market, the nation's business media continues to ignore the fact that the economy is chugging along quite nicely with general agreement among analysts that a recession is nowhere on the horizon.

To be sure, the dollar has been tanking recently which may lead to some unpleasant consequences. In the meantime, American goods are cheaper overseas and tourists are flocking here as a result of the very favorable exchange rates.

One thing is for sure; once a Democrat gets in the White House, you can be sure that the news about the economy will be a lot more upbeat.