{"id":434356,"date":"2018-09-10T15:02:50","date_gmt":"2018-09-10T19:02:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goldtadise.com\/?p=434356"},"modified":"2018-09-10T19:19:44","modified_gmt":"2018-09-10T23:19:44","slug":"us-capacity-utilization-trend-are-we-there-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goldtadise.com\/?p=434356","title":{"rendered":"US Capacity Utilization Trend – are we there yet?"},"content":{"rendered":"

We’re at ‘peak employment’ but CU trend shows lots of slack in the economy still, also as evidenced by the Labor Force Participation rate at around the 70’s 63%.<\/p>\n

“Capacity Utilization is the percentage of resources used by corporations and factories to produce goods in manufacturing, mining, and electric and gas utilities for all facilities located in the United States……”.\u00a0 \u00a0 Basically CU goes down, inefficiency goes up & (US) economic strength diminishes.<\/p>\n

Noteworthy in the chart below is 1) the consistent decline in the CU rate just prior to ‘official’ recession (this ‘tell’ isn’t here yet but there might not be one<\/em> a la 2008), 2)\u00a0the possible ‘stop’ points on the way down, and 3) similarity in long term declining trend to the Fed Funds rate which is hovering not far above zero and which is also at the top trend line (the ‘keep-the-wheels on’ line).<\/p>\n

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Courtesy Macrotrends<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.macrotrends.net\/2585\/capacity-utilization-rate-historical-chart<\/a><\/p>\n

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Other (40) current related employment charts.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/news\/2018-09-09\/us-job-market-overheating-xxxx-charts<\/a><\/p>\n

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NAIRU – “…….the specific level of unemployment that is evident in an economy that does not cause inflation to rise. NAIRU often represents equilibrium between the state of the economy and the labor market…”\u00a0 \u00a0i.e.\u00a0 The STIFF’s and TPTB are at maximum contentment.<\/p>\n

The Happiness Factor – A 5th Grader’s Forecast for US Employment 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n