The next issue will be dated December 3, 1999. Industrial production is a sensitive gauge of economic movement, even though it accounts for only about one-quarter of total output. Factory production reached a low point in January 1999 but since has climbed about 4 percent with the usual mix of ups and downs over the intervening months. Most industries are participating in this growth. The exceptions are ones like textiles and consumer nondurables that face stiff competition from goods made in Asia and other developing countries.
Investment goods are part of the general upward trend.
The category of capital goods excluding transportation equipment, although off 20 percent from its mid-1997 peak, has climbed 5 percent since April. Electrical machinery, which includes telecommunications equipment, computers and semiconductors, had a shallower downturn than most other types of capital goods and started its recovery sooner. In September, production of these products was more than 10 percent above its mid-1998 trough. Despite the latest increase, the total number of people with jobs is almost 2 percent below the mid-1997 peak. Moreover, the count of workers and employees in September was at a level first attained more than seven years ago, in early 1992.