Monday, October 17, 2011

An economist says the latest numbers on industrial production indicate that the economy "seems to have rebounded well in September" -- after a "punch to the gut" the month before.

Ellen Zentner of Nomura Securities says today's numbers support her forecast that the economy grew at an annual rate of 2.7 percent
in the third quarter. That's well above the 0.9 percent growth in the first half of the year.

For the third straight month, factories produced more goods in September. The Federal Reserve says they made more airplanes,
trucks and home electronics to meet rising demand.

The 0.4 percent increase in factory output followed other promising signs in September. Hiring increased slightly, and retail sales grew by the most in seven months.

A separate regional survey from the Fed today showed that manufacturing in the Northeast continued to contract. But many
economists are playing down the overall decrease, largely because
measures of new orders, shipments and hiring all turned from negative to positive.