"For many products, demand has been above our ability to produce," Mike DeWalt, director of investor relations at Caterpillar Inc., said on a conference call with analysts yesterday. While the world's biggest maker of construction and mining equipment gas invested in factories to boost production, DeWalt said his company is, "still very tight on many products and are currently quoting extended delivery times for them."
More Homebuilding
Home building also picked up, adding to signs the industry is stabilizing. Construction of residential real estate climbed at an 11 percent annual rate, the best performance since the second quarter of 2010. For all of 2011, the industry shrank 1.4 percent, the smallest decline since 2005, the last year homebuilding grew.
A deepening crisis in Europe may also hinder expansion. The IMF this week cut its forecast for global growth in 2012 and said the euro crisis threatens to hamper the world economy.
"We feel great about where we see retail sales in the U.S., but certainly remain cautious as we look forward, given the tentative nature of the overall economy and consumer confidence," John Olin, chief financial officer of Harley- Davidson Inc., said during a Jan. 24 conference call. "We are more concerned about retail sales in Europe, given the fact that they may already be in recession or may slip into recession."
The nation's biggest motorcycle maker, based in Milwaukee, said sales rose 12 percent in the U.S.
Fed officials said this week their benchmark interest rate will stay low until at least late 2014 and they forecast unemployment will "decline only gradually."