In Canada the capacity utilization rate has climbed from 80.5% the previous quarter to 81%. As Canada is a resource based economy, this could be an indication that the commodities market will improve in the next quarters. Capacity utilization rates above 80% are inflationary.
U.S. capacity utilization took a dive in August 2012 to 78.2%, much less than the forecast. This is the lowest since October 2011 and a huge break of the trendline. We can’t make too much conclusions on this number because QE3 has just been announced and will have an effect on the future.