Output of factories, mines and utilities revised higher for December By Jeffry Bartash, MarketWatch WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — U.S. industrial production was flat in January, but the increase in December was much larger than first reported, according to the Federal Reserve. Last month, industrial production was unchanged, as a 0.7% increase among manufacturers was offset by sharp declines in mining and utilities, data from the U.S. central bank showed Wednesday. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch forecast industrial production to climb 0.8%. Yet the rise in production in December was revised up sharply — to 1.0% expansion from an original reading of 0.4%. The latest figures put production 3.4% above year-ago levels, reflecting a steady improvement among the nation’s goods-producing companies. Capacity utilization, meanwhile, fell slightly to 78.5% last month, but only because of a sharp upward revision in December. The utilization rate in December was revised up to 78.6% from an initial reading of 78.1%. Economists had been expecting a utilization rate of 78.6%. Capacity utilization measures how much of a factory is actually being put to use to produce goods. Higher rates of utilization signal rising demand and a stronger economy. Utilization has risen 1.6 percentage points in the past 12 months. Manufacturers, led by auto makers, boosted production again in January. Automotive output jumped 6.8%. Yet output at utilities fell a steep 2.5%, likely because of unseasonably warm weather. Also, production dropped 1.8% in the mining industry. Broken down by market, makers of business equipment boosted production by 1.8% last month as suppliers of non-industrial goods raised production by 0.2%. Companies that make consumer goods, however, trimmed output by 0.1%, while construction companies and producers of materials both reduced their production by 0.4%. Jeffry Bartash is a reporter for MarketWatch in Washington.

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