Reports Offer New Evidence Of Slowdown

Fresh signs of a faltering economy are emerging, with virtually no growth in the industrial sector and sales of new homes plunging to a seven-month low.

Analysts said government reports Wednesday underscored how weak the economy was during the fourth quarter and could help persuade Federal Reserve policy-makers to cut interest rates again next week to stimulate growth.

The Fed reported Wednesday that production at the nation’s factories, mines and utilities inched up just 0.1 percent in December after rising 0.3 percent a month earlier. Output had fallen 0.4 percent in October.

That meant production growth slowed to an 0.8 percent annual rate during the fourth quarter, just onefourth the 3.2 percent rate during the previous three months. For the year, output rose 3.2 percent, little more than half the 5.9 percent growth in 1994.

At the same time, the Commerce Department reported sales of new single-family homes fell for the fourth straight month in November, down 2.1 percent to a 649,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate.

The rate was the lowest since 607,000 last April. Sales dropped in all regions except the South. In the Northeast, they plunged to a 13-year low.

The Commerce Department report showed new home sales have not improved since they rose 8 percent last July, to a 781,000 annual rate. That helped push sales for the first 11 months of the year 1.7 percent below the same period of 1994.