Industrial production chugging along globally

U.S. industrial production in April rose 0.7%, and is up at a 7% annualized rate in the past six months. Although industrial production in some parts of the world has experienced a fairly dramatic V-shaped recovery this past year (Japanese production is up almost 30% in the 12 months ending March, and Eurozone production is up at a 13% annualized rate in the past six months), a full recovery to previous high levels of activity is still a long ways off. Call it slow progress, but it is sure a lot better than the doom and gloom forecasts of depression that were bandied about a year ago.