SOMEBODY NAIL KRUGMAN'S WINDOW SHUT:

Industrial Production Surges in May (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, 6/16/04)

Big industry production surged by 1.1 percent in May, the strongest performance in nearly six years, and a nationwide survey of business activity is showing widespread strength, two fresh signs of economic momentum.

The sizable increase in industrial production reported Wednesday by the Federal Reserve came after a strong 0.8 percent rise in April. The 1.1 percent advance -- better than the 0.6 percent rise that some economists were expecting -- represented the biggest gain since August 1998.

Factory production -- the biggest slice of industrial activity tracked by the Fed -- rose by 0.9 percent in May, up from a 0.7 percent increase the month before.

"They say beauty is only skin deep, but this manufacturing recovery looks better and better the deeper you look at it,'' said Jerry Jasinowski, president of the National Association of Manufacturers. ``There is no doubt that the manufacturing recovery is durable, deep and diffuse,'' he said.

Well, they say the President got straight D's.

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 16, 2004 11:46 PM