Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization
January's Industrial Production data was released at 9:15 AM ET this morning, revealing a 0.6% decline in output at U.S. factories, mines and utilities. This was well below expectations of a 0.1% rise and indicates that parts of the manufacturing sector softened last month. That is good news for mortgage rates since it points towards weaker economic activity. However, this is only a moderately important report. Accordingly, we have seen just a slight reaction in mortgage pricing.