The Day at a Glance | February 16 2023

The Top

*Head of the Secretary of the Treasury, Rogelio Ramirez de la O, stated that growth is expected to set at 3% in 2023 despite the uncertain global outlook.

*The European Central Bank made its economic bulletin public this morning. In it, the ECB highlighted concerns regarding the supply of gas in the region in light of a rebound in Chinese imports. 

*Industrial production in the US logged monthly stagnation in January. However, manufacturing production surprised to the upside.

*Inflation for producers in the US increased 0.7% monthly, more than expected (0.4%e.). Even excluding food and energy, the figure set at 0.5%.

*The start of home construction in the US recorded a monthly -4.5% setback, its worst reading since July of last year. Additionally, construction permits virtually remained unchanged as they recorded a 0.1% monthly figure, below the expected 1.0%. 

*Unemployment claims decreased slightly from 195 thousand to 194 thousand. For their part, recurring claims increased in around 8 thousand and set at 1.696 million.

*The Philadelphia FED´s business perspective decreased to its lowest level since May of 2020; it logged a -24.3 figure.

Economic environment

Industrial production in the US logged stagnation (0.5%) in January. This figure set above the consensus estimate (0.5%e.) after it receded -0.7% in December; there were contrasting figures among industries that make up the index. The services component logged a -9.9% decrease in light of slower demand for heating. On the other hand, manufacturing production increased 1.0%, which compares positively to the 0.8% expected by the consensus and  improved with respect to December´s -1.8% reading (which was revised downwards from a -1.3%). Additionally, mining increased 2.0% monthly, which, along with the performance seen in manufacturing, was able to limit the setback in services.