Sales of autos fell to an annual rate of 11.45 million units in June from 11.79 million units in May. In the second quarter, auto sales dropped at an annual rate of 25.3% after a nearly 25% jump in the first quarter. The bulk of the decline in auto sales was not from a reduction in supply of autos due to the natural disaster in Japan but also a weakness in sales.

As shown in Chart 3, sales of domestic autos fell to an annual rate of 8.8 million units during June from 9.1 million in the prior month, while sales of imported autos edged down to 2.6 million units from 2.7 million units in May. It is widely expected that auto production will rebound in the third quarter as supply chain problems from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan are being sorted out. However, there is uncertainty about the pickup in auto sales if labor market conditions remain soft.

Asha Bangalore — Senior Vice President and Economist

http://www.northerntrust.com

Asha Bangalore is Vice President and Economist at The Northern Trust Company, Chicago. Prior to joining the bank in 1994, she was Consultant to savings and loan institutions and commercial banks at Financial & Economic Strategies Corporation, Chicago.

The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of The Northern Trust Company. The Northern Trust Company does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of information contained herein, such information is subject to change and is not intended to influence your investment decisions.

Only logged in users are allowed to post comments. Register/ Log in

The Market Oracle is a FREE Financial Markets Forecasting & Analysis web-site.
(c) 2005-2024 MarketOracle.co.uk (Market Oracle Ltd) - Market Oracle Ltd asserts copyright on all articles authored by our editorial team and all comments posted. Any and all information provided within the web-site, is for general information purposes only and Market Oracle Ltd do not warrant the accuracy, timeliness or suitability of any information provided on this site. nor is or shall be deemed to constitute, financial or any other advice or recommendation by us. and are also not meant to be investment advice or solicitation or recommendation to establish market positions. We do not give investment advice and our comments are an expression of opinion only and should not be construed in any manner whatsoever as recommendations to enter into a market position either stock, option, futures contract, bonds, commodity or any other financial instrument at any time. We recommend that independent professional advice is obtained before you make any investment or trading decisions. By using this site you agree to this sites Terms of Use. From time to time we promote or endorse certain products / services that we believe are worthy of your time and attention. In return for that endorsement and only in the cases where you purchase directly though us may we be compensated by the producers of those products.