Toy Safety Bill Made Law
President George W. Bush signed a bill on Thursday that establishes what are considered the toughest safety standards for lead levels in children's toys anywhere in the world. The law gives the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) more resources to ensure that toys are safe.

The Associated Press on Friday reported that the legislation "prohibits lead, beyond minute levels, in products for children 12 or younger." In addition, it "would double" the CPSC's "budget, to $136 million, by 2014 and give it new authority to oversee testing procedures and to penalize violators."

A blog at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer lays out the provisions included in the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008.

Industrial Output Rises in July
Manufacturing output of factories in the United States rose 0.4 percent in July, the best gain in 10 months, the Federal Reserve reported Friday. The increase was led by an uptick in motor vehicles.

Overall, industrial production at the nation's mines, utilities and factories increased a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent in July, despite a 1.9 percent drop in output of utilities. Output of mines increased 0.9 percent in July; after peaking in January, output is down 0.1 percent in the past year. Capacity utilization — a key gauge of inflationary pressures — rose one-tenth to 79.9 percent in July, still far below the level that would signal tight supply chains.

The Associated Press notes that, despite the recent gains, "production at auto plants remained 10.4 percent below where it was a year ago as automakers struggle with slumping demand due to the weak economy and the big spike in gasoline prices, which has hurt sales of their once-popular sport utility vehicles." Meanwhile, "[t]he manufacturing sector has been battered by the prolonged slump in housing and the multiple problems in the auto industry." As such, many economists view the gains as temporary.

Consumer Prices Surge in July
The U.S. Department of Labor reported last week that U.S. consumer prices surged by a more-than-expected 0.8 percent in July compared with the prior month. The increase follows a 1.1 percent jump in June. The index for energy rose sharply for the third straight month, increasing 4 percent in July and accounting for about half of the overall increase in the all-items index. The food index rose 0.9 percent in July after rising 0.8 percent in June.

The index for core prices, which are all items excluding food and energy, increased 0.3 percent last month, the second straight such increase.

Economic Slowdown Spreading to Europe and Japan?
"More signs of the economic slowdown appeared Wednesday in Asia and Europe," as the Bank of England "offered a pessimistic outlook for the rest of the year," saying that it expected inflation to hit 5 percent because of energy and food prices and the economy to stagnate," the New York Times reports. Meanwhile, the Japanese government released data on Wednesday showing the country "appears to be flirting with a recession."

Many economists now consider an International Monetary Fund estimate that "the global economy would grow 4.1 percent in 2008 and 3.9 percent in 2009" to be "overly optimistic."

Eurozone Industrial Output Steadies
Seasonally adjusted Eurozone industrial production steadied in June from the May level, which had shown a sharp fall, data from the European Union statistics office Eurostat showed last week. On a 12-month basis, however, industrial output fell by 0.5 percent in the euro area.

In June 2008 compared with May 2008, seasonally adjusted industrial production remained unchanged in the euro area. In May, production fell by 1.8 percent.

European Manufacturing Optimism Wanes
"Optimism among European manufacturers has fallen sharply from the beginning of this year as the global economic slowdown and rapid input price inflation depress the business outlook," the Financial Times reports based on the latest KPMG/Market survey. The survey of about 3,700 European manufacturers "found that average expectations both for profits and employment prospects had turned negative for the first time since the survey began in January 2006."

On a scale of "-100 (most negative) to +100 (most positive)," the "net balance of companies forecasting a growth in activity fell to just +14.1 from +43.5 in January." Meanwhile, "[p]rospects for company profits plummeted to -13.2 from +15.8 six months earlier as almost 40 percent of manufacturers now said they expected these to fall." However, "the survey among manufacturers in the economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, the so-called BRIC countries, showed a stark contrast, with business activity, profits, employment, and capacity utilization all expected to rise."

Toyota Exec: "U.S. Auto Industry Won't Recover Until 2010"
A top Toyota Motor Corp. executive last week predicted U.S. auto sales will eventually return to about 17 million cars and light trucks, but he said it will happen more gradually than automakers originally hoped," the Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required). "The U.S. auto industry is facing tough times and will not likely recover until 2010," Bob Carter, group vice president and general manager of Toyota Motor Sales USA, said last week.

Carter said that "the recovery will be shaped more like a Nike swoosh with gradual improvement in 2009 and then steady progress into 2010 as our economic fundamentals regain solid footing." He also predicted U.S. car sales "will hit just 14.5 million vehicles in 2008, down about 12 percent from last year and well off recent norms of 16 to 17 million," Agence France-Press reports. The executive noted that the auto industry is "not ready" to meet new regulations on fuel efficiency and emissions.

Carter also said Toyota is "unlikely to exceed last year's sales in the U.S. but will end the year with a larger percentage of industry sales," according to the Detroit Free Press.

Orders and Shipments of Conveyor Equipment Up from May
June 2008 orders for conveying equipment were up 41 percent from orders in May 2008, while shipments in June were up 5 percent from the month prior, according to the Conveyor Equipment Manufacturers Association (via Material Handling Management).

June orders, however, decreased 6 percent from those in June 2007.

21 Cities To Measure and Disclose CO₂ Emissions
"Twenty-one U.S. cities said they will measure their greenhouse gases emissions, in a joint effort to seek ways to halt and reverse global warming," AFP reports. "The cities, which made their announcement on August 10, will resort to a measuring system for CO₂ and other greenhouse gases already in use by some 1,300 companies worldwide who voluntarily disclose their emissions."

The London-based Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), founded in 2000, represents some 385 global institutional investors with a combined asset base of more than $57 trillion. In the U.S. cities project, the CDP teams up with ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, a 450-member U.S. group of local governments seeking deep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and tangible improvements in local sustainability.

U.S. Steel and United Steelworkers Union Announce Tentative Agreement
More than 16,000 members of the United Steelworkers (USW) at U.S. Steel on Tuesday accepted a tentative four-year agreement that boosts wages and benefits for workers and retirees.

The new agreement, which could run for four years, requires the company to make capital investment in the plants "to keep the mills state of the art in order to compete in a global steel market," according to a USW announcement (via MarketWatch).

"By reaching an accord more than two weeks ahead of the contract's Sept. 1 expiration, the company, one of the world's largest steel producers, will avoid any disruption in operations that would potentially derail the industry's momentum," the Wall Street Journal reports. "The agreement was described by the union as its best in more than two decades."