"Consumers are pretty stretched at this point"
- Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James & Associates Inc.
U.S. industrial production was little changed in February, compared to the previous month, said the Federal Reserve on Wednesday.
"The trend for manufacturing has been good but not great," said Aaron Smith, a senior economist at Moody's Analytics Inc. in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
"Slowing in certain parts of the world -- Europe and China -- will have an impact, and the lift from inventories is fading."
In a separate report the University of Michigan said U.S. consumer confidence unexpectedly deteriorated. The Thomson Reuters / University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment declined to 74.3 from 75.3 in January.
"Consumers are pretty stretched at this point," Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James & Associates Inc. in St. Petersburg, Florida, said.
"Gasoline prices are limiting purchases. Inflation-adjusted incomes are still very weak. There are a lot of strains on consumers."
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