December industrial production drops 2 percent

[Ichingcarpenter]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Industrial production dropped by a bigger-than-expected 2 percent in December, Federal Reserve data showed on Friday, capping a dismal year for manufacturing as the recession took hold.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 1 percent decline in December after a revised 1.3 percent drop in November, initially reported as a 0.6 percent dip.

For the fourth quarter as a whole, total industrial production fell 11.5 percent at an annual rate.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/deborahCohen/idUSTRE50F3SU20090116

[madrchsod]

1. ?....we still produce stuff ?

[ro1942]

2. good thing

only chance the earth as, our consumption is obscene. we have to learn to do with less, jobs included. you can see 40' down the bottom is covered with white sand; those are the first wrote by a european off the Potomac river.

[Grinchie]

3. Sure, we produce mountains of Debt!

The significance of these figures is mind-boggling.

Most American's are adolescents when it comes to understanding that this really sets the stage for incredible scarcity in the future.

The liquidation of Circuit City announced today also removes a major channel of distribution nationwide, so we are in for a shock when we need to go out at replace the obsolete crap that's built to fail in the next few months.

I love how the Novemeber number was revised up to Double the number from what was originally reported. Wall street can calculate and track 2 billion transaction a day, but the economists in the Government are in a back room using an Abacus to track the health of the U.S. Economy.

Incredible.

[caseymoz]

4. You're right about the distribution channels shrinking.

Some things to be noticed in a Depression:

Prices will be low, which is good only if you're employed and can find somebody to buy from.

Quality will diminish terribly as industries set their sites on meeting lower prices.

Unemployment will freeze at a high level, because manufactures usually can't make a profit at the prices people could afford to pay.

Meanwhile, the unemployed can't afford items that might be sold even at the low prices. Hence, nobody can buy anything till they are employed, and industries can't afford to hire people until more people are buying things. It's not a vicious circle, it's more like an infernal knot.

Last note: the Internet might act as a replacement outlet in this Depression. Yes, I'm calling it a Depression already.

[bemildred]

5. So what's that, a 30% drop, when you annualize it? nt