Consumer Sentiment Drops
The consumer sentiment index in June fell to 56.7 from 59.8 in May, according to the University of Michigan/Reuters reading announced on Friday. Consumer sentiment has declined in recent months amid escalating fuel and food costs. The current economic conditions index fell to 68.7 from 73.3.

Consumer Prices Jump 0.6 Percent in May
Surging energy costs drove United States consumer prices higher at the fastest pace in six months during May, but core inflation increased more moderately, U.S. Dept. of Labor data released on Friday showed. The seasonally adjusted consumer price index rose 0.6 percent last month, the biggest one-month increase since last November, as gasoline costs surged by 5.7 percent. The increase was worse than the 0.5 percent gain expected by economists.

The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, edged up a more moderate 0.2 percent in May. Some economists cast the retail-level inflation data in a gloomy light, while others took some comfort in the relatively muted core inflation rates.

Unemployment is Up
In the week ending June 7, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 384,000, an increase of 25,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 359,000, according to the Labor Department. The four-week moving average was 371,500, an increase of 2,500 from the previous week's revised average of 369,000.

Government: Ethanol Keeps Gas Prices Low
Amid a growing debate, top U.S. government officials are telling Congress that gas-pump prices would be higher if not for increased use of ethanol.

In a recent letter to the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (via MarketWatch), Energy Department Secretary Samuel Bodman and Agriculture Department Secretary Edward Schafer estimate that gasoline prices would be 20 cents to 35 cents per gallon higher if ethanol weren't blended in and that the U.S. would need 7.2 billion more gallons of gasoline in 2008 to maintain current levels of travel.

Detroit 3 Slash Sales to Fleets
"Despite a brutal retail sales slump, the Detroit 3 continue to cut the number of light vehicles they sell to daily rental companies and corporate fleets," Automotive News reports. "Through the first four months of 2008, General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC have reduced U.S. sales to fleet buyers," with Chrysler's 17 percent cut setting pace, according to an analysis of data supplied by automotive research firm R.L. Polk & Co.

GM to Send Big Oil a "Dear John" Letter
Katherine Benoit, corporate marketing director at General Motors Corp., told attendees at last week's American Advertising Federation meeting the automaker is breaking a corporate campaign this month "that addresses the oil-price issue head-on, albeit with a tongue-in-cheek twist."

"Dear Oil," a new TV spot begins. "We've had this great relationship for many years. We think we will both be a lot happier and healthier if we see less of each other."

The new spot is aimed at promoting alternative fuel. The ad, according to Advertising Age and CNNMoney.com, is slated to debut on NBC's Meet the Press June 22.

(Note: The GM ad will premiere during the second Meet the Press that follows Friday's sudden death of 58-year-old NBC Bureau Chief and longtime host Tim Russert.)

India's Industrial Output Rebounds
"India's industrial output rebounded in April from the previous month . . . suggesting the economy was still growing robustly despite aggressive monetary tightening," Agence France-Presse reports data showing last week. "Industrial production grew by 7 percent in April from a year earlier, after expanding by just 3.9 percent in March."

Japan's Machinery Orders Up
Last week, Japan's Cabinet Office said that core machinery orders rose for the first time in three months. Following an 8.3 percent decline in March, orders climbed at a faster-than-expected pace of 5.5 percent in April.

Orders from overseas climbed 4.6 percent in April after declines of 16.1 percent in March and 13.2 percent in February.

Machinery orders placed by the manufacturing sector in April rose 1.9 percent from the previous month and orders by non-manufacturers were up 8.8 percent, Agence France-Presse reports the government as having said.

Ocean Shipping Inching Back Up
"Although ongoing economic issues are slowing down traffic at U.S.-based retail container ports, monthly growth is still occurring, with ports possibly returning to year-over-year growth by the end of October," Logistics Management reports based on the monthly Port Tracker report by the National Retail Federation and Global Insight.

The ports surveyed in the report handled 1.26 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) in April, the most recent month for which numbers are available. This monthly performance is 8.9 percent better than March's 1.16 million TEU, which was the lowest volume recorded since February 2006's 1.1 million.

China By the Numbers
China's trade surplus last month dropped 9.9 percent from a year earlier to US$20.2 billion after both export and import growth accelerated, the General Administration of Customs said last Wednesday (via Xinhua). Exports increased 28.1 percent last month to US$120.5 billion, compared to growth of 21.8 percent a month earlier, while imports climbed 40 percent to US$100.3 billion, roaring past the 26.3 percent April growth.

The country's inflation rate dipped to a still high 7.7 percent in May, thanks to easing food prices, according to Shanghai Daily. The rise in the consumer price index for May was lower than the 8.5 percent rise in April.

Meanwhile, the government's National Bureau of Statistics also reported Wednesday that the country's index for producer prices (an indicator of inflation) rose 8.2 percent in May, the fastest rise in nearly four years. The cost of oil, commodities and raw materials are fueling the increase, the Associated Press reports.

China's increasing investment in its educational system will accelerate the move toward rapid wage growth, higher levels of consumer demand, slowing population growth and overall economic development, according to a report released by the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI last week. Enrollment in tertiary education reached 20 percent in 2005, up from 6 percent in 1999.

NASA Awards Contract for Constellation Spacesuit for the Moon
NASA has awarded a contract to Oceaneering International Inc., of Houston, Tex., for the design, development and production of a new spacesuit system.

"The cost-plus-award-fee spacesuit contract includes a basic performance period from June 2008 to September 2014 that has a value of $183.8 million," NASA says.

The spacesuit will protect astronauts during Constellation Program voyages to the International Space Station and, by 2020 (*fingers crossed*), the surface of the moon.

Manufacturing Progresses in Sin (City)
Innovation and collaboration were key points last week at Managing Automation's fourth Progressive Manufacturing Summit in Las Vegas, Nev.

Highlights from experts at the conference can be found here and here.