More Good News on the Economy

As reported by CBS MarketWatch, output of U.S. factories, mines and utilities rose modestly in August after July's gains were revised upward, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday. Industrial output rose 0.1 percent last month to 116.6 on the Fed's index, surpassing the pre-recession peak of 116.4 recorded in June, 2000. What CBS did not mention was that the size of the July revision, which was a robust .6%.

What does all this mean? United States industrial production is now at an all-time high, 116.6% of it's 1997 average. Obviously, one would expect our economy to grow most years, so 'all-time high' industrial production numbers are not necessarily a big story, unless of course you're John Kerry and you're trying to paint our economy as faltering. However, after the recession of 2000 and the terrorist attack on 9/11/01, industrial output plummeted and stood at 110 as of June last year. The climb from 110 to 116.6 over the prior 14 months is yet another indicator that our economy is indeed steadily growing, despite what the Kerry camp would lead you to believe.