Economic Outlook Muddled by Mixed Indicators

A trio of indicators released Friday offered a muddled picture of a U.S. economy that may be emerging from recession -- but doing so fitfully, with a shrinking decline in industrial production, a small increase in producer prices and a slight drop in an index of consumer sentiment.

The trucking industry is sensitive to fluctuations in the economy and an upturn could mean increased demand for trucking services.

The Federal Reserve reported that industrial production fell 0.1% in January, the smallest decline since July 2001, but still providing evidence that the long slump in manufacturing may be subsiding.

The production figures were an improvement over the revised 0.3% decline in December. In January, U.S. factories operated at 74.2% of their full capacity, down just slightly from the 74.4% they operated at last month.

The Department of Labor said that its producer price index -- the measure of how much manufacturers can get for their products -- rose 0.1% in January, bolstered by the largest increase in the price of food in nearly a year.

However the core PPI, which excludes food and energy items because of their volatility, slipped 0.1%.

n December, the core PPI was unchanged, the Labor report said.

Analysts had a mixed reaction to the PPI news, with some saying it demonstrated that inflation was still not a factor in the economy’s near future, Bloomberg said. However, others said it showed that producers still had little control over prices.

The mixed news carried into the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index, Bloomberg reported. The release of the preliminary data from the survey showed that consumers felt less positive about economy as the index fell to 90.9 from 93 in January.

The survey shows how consumers feel about their own finances and the state of the economy in general.

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