Wall Street Journal (07/15/15) David Harrison

U.S. industrial production rose a seasonally adjusted 0.3% from May to June, according to a report from the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday. The report indicated that industrial output dropped at an annual rate of 1.4%. Capacity utilization hit 78.4%, up 0.2 percentage points, which means there has been a rise of 2.6 percentage points over the past year. Auto and auto parts manufacturing dropped 3.7% in June, but output elsewhere in the sector rose 3.7% and manufacturing output did not change. There was a 1% increase in the mining sector last month, a shift from the 2.1% drop in mining production in May. Output in the utilities sector rose 1.5% in June, keeping with the 1.2% increase in May, and the 4.3% overall growth over the past 12 months. The June data puts an end to the six consecutive months in which industrial production failed to record an increase.

MarketWatch (07/16/15) Jeffry Bartash

The U.S. Department of Labor reported that new applications for U.S. unemployment benefits dropped by 15,000 to 281,000 in the seven days ended July 11, erasing a large increase from the previous week that stemmed from retoolings at auto plants and other seasonal quirks. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had forecast initial claims to fall to 287,000 from a revised 296,000. The average of new claims over the past month increased by 3,250 to a seasonally adjusted 282,500, according to the department. Continuing jobless claims declined by 112,000 to 2.2 million in the week ended July 4.