May inventories totaled 1.814 million units, up 0.9% from April and up 60.4% from 1.150 million units in May 2022. The continued recovery in auto production rates has helped dealers start to rebuild their depleted inventories. The current inventory levels, when combined with May’s sales pace, equates to 33 days of supply.
U.S. raw steel production continued to move higher last week, climbing to its highest weekly output since last August. U.S. steelmakers produced 1.737 million tons at a 77.2% utilization rate, topping 76% for the fifth straight week. The current YTD utilization rate is at 75.1%, down 3.9% compared to the same time last year.
Climbing for the second consecutive month and for the sixth time in the last seven months, new home sales came in at a 683,000-unit rate in April. This is up 4.1% from March and up 11.8% from the 611,000 unit rate in April 2022, making it the first month with a year-over-year increase since May 2021.
After holding flat for the previous two months, the Industrial Production Index increased to 103.0 in April, up from 102.5 previously. In addition, the Manufacturing component increased 1.0% to 99.8, boosted by gains in motor vehicle output. The boost in auto production helped to overcome the decline in miscellaneous manufacturing. Overall capacity utilization increased to 79.7%, right at the fifty-year average.
