Manufacturing production rebounds

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) reported Aug. 17 that manufacturing production rebounded for the third straight month, rising by 3.4% in July. Unfortunately, manufacturing output has fallen 7.7% year-over-year, with durable and nondurable goods output down 9.3% and 5.4%, respectively. Manufacturing capacity utilization rose to 69.2% in July, although that is still down from 75.2% in February.