WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - U.S. industrial output tumbled 1.1% in May, led by big drops in motor vehicles, mining and high-technology products, the Federal Reserve reported Tuesday. The decrease was a bit worse than forecasts of a 1% drop, particularly after April's output was revised lower to a decrease of 0.7% from 0.5% reported earlier. Output is down 13.4% in the past year, the largest year-over-year decline since 1946. Output has fallen in 16 of the past 17 months since the recession began in December 2007. Since that month, industrial output is down 14.8%. Capacity utilization in industry fell to a record-low 68.3%. In manufacturing alone, capacity utilization fell to a record-low 65%.
