By Steve Goldstein
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Industrial production rose a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in June after a 0.2% dip in May, the Federal Reserve said Tuesday. The Fed initially reported the May drop to be 0.1%, so even though the June growth was stronger than the 0.3% forecast in a MarketWatch-compiled poll, the level of industrial production was below that economists estimated. Compared to June 2011, production gained 4.7%, and for the second quarter, industrial production decelerated to 2.2% from a 5.8% growth rate in the first quarter. Capacity utilization edged up to 78.9% from a downwardly revised 78.7% in May.
