Manufacturing output falls 0.4%, first decline since February
By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - U.S. industrial output rose 0.1% in June as higher mining and utility production offset a decline in manufacturing, the Federal Reserve reported Thursday.
The increase was a modest upside surprise, as economists were expecting a 0.1% decline after a 1.3% increase in May.
Industrial output is up 8.2% compared with a year ago after falling at the fastest rate since World War II.
Capacity utilization, a key gauge of inflationary pressures, was unchanged at 74.1%, well below the average of 80.6%.
Manufacturing output fell 0.4% in June after a 1% gain in May. It was the first decline since February. Nondurable manufacturing production fell 0.7%, more than offsetting a 0.1% increase in the production of durable-goods industries, led by metals and machinery.
Utility output rose 2.7% on warmer-than-usual temperatures in much of the nation. Mining output increased 0.4%.
For the second quarter, output increased at a 6.6% annualized rate, not much different from the 7% increases in the fourth quarter of 2009 and the first quarter of this year.
