US industrial production fell in April by a record 11.2%
US, WASHINGTON (ORDO NEWS) — US industrial production fell in April by 11.2% compared to March and by 15% in annual terms, according to the US Federal Reserve System. This is the maximum (11.2%) monthly decrease over the entire 101-year history of statistics.
Such a record reduction was caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which forced many plants to slow down or suspend operations in April, the Fed said. According to revised data, industrial production in March fell by 4.5%, and not by 5.4%, as previously reported.
Industrial production in the processing industries (they account for 75% of the total industrial production) fell in April by a record 13.7%. In March, the indicator fell by 5.5%.
Including the production of cars and spare parts in April fell by 70%, industrial production in the mining industry – by 6.1%.
US capacity utilization declined to 64.9% from 73.2% in March.
Industrial production in annual terms decreased in April by 15%, this is the maximum reduction since June 2009. Manufacturing output fell 18%, a record drop since May 2009.
Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin said the US economy will “open” in May-June and will “rebound” in July, August and September. Mnuchin hopes for a “significant” effect from the trillions of dollars that the government has provided to support the economy.
However, the US Congressional Budget Office predicts that US GDP will decline by 5.6% in 2020. Only by the end of 2021, GDP will return to the indicators noted at the beginning of 2020, but this depends on the development of the coronavirus pandemic.
At the same time, the management believes that even under an optimistic scenario, the US unemployment rate, which amounted to 3.6% before the crisis, will not fall below 10% until the end of 2021.
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