Meanwhile, on the real side of the economy, the Federal Reserve released October's industrial production stats.
Industrial production rose 0.7 percent in October after having edged up 0.1 percent in September. At 117.6 percent of its 1997 average, the October index was 5.2 percent higher than its year-ago level. Manufacturing output increased 0.7 percent in October, and output gains were broadly based across industries. The indexes for mining and utilities also climbed 0.7 percent. Part of the increase in production appears to reflect a partial bounceback from the restraining effects of the recent hurricanes, although the exact magnitude of the contribution is difficult to estimate.
This, and the other news of the day, is (of course) prompting yet more piling on the prediction that it is up, up, up for the federal funds rate. From Bloomberg:
U.S. consumer prices rose in October, spurred by energy and food costs, and industrial production and housing starts surged, suggesting the Federal Reserve may keep raising its benchmark interest rate.
Prices rose 0.6 percent in October, the most since May, and 0.2 percent after excluding food and energy, the Labor Department said in Washington. Both exceeded median forecasts. Production increased 0.7 percent, the biggest jump in three months, and builders started work on 2.027 million homes at an annual rate, the most this year.
``Inflation numbers are higher, but they don't seem to be deterring economic activity,' said Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics LLC in Pepper Pike, Ohio, and the most accurate economic growth forecaster in a Bloomberg News survey this year. ``This means that the Fed is on the proper course, and that there are a lot more rate increases to come.''