Industrial production in the U.S. rose by slightly more than anticipated in the month of July, according to a report released by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, with the report showing increased output in each of the manufacturing, mining, and utilities sectors.
The report showed that industrial production increased by 0.6 percent in July compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 0.5 percent.
While the increase in production in June was downwardly revised to 0.1 percent from the 0.4 percent growth originally reported, the change in production in May was revised to show a 0.1 percent increase compared to the previously reported 0.2 percent drop.
The bigger than expected increase in production in July was partly due to continued output growth in the manufacturing sector. The report said manufacturing output rose by 0.5 percent in July, matching the revised increase seen in June.
A 3.3 percent increase in the production of motor vehicles and parts contributed to the continued increase in manufacturing output.
Paul Ashworth, Chief U.S. Economist at Capital Economics, noted that the sharp increase in auto production partly reflects the smaller than usual number of plant shutdowns for retooling this summer.
"As a result, we could see that gain reversed in August," Ashworth said. "Nevertheless, even excluding motor vehicles, manufacturing increased by 0.2%."
The report also showed that utilities output surged up by 1.3 percent in July after tumbling by 3.3 percent in June. Mining output also jumped by 1.2 percent following a 0.5 percent increase in the previous month.
Additionally, the Federal Reserve said capacity utilization rose to 79.3 percent in July from 78.9 in June. Economists had expected capacity utilization to increase to 79.2 percent.
Capacity utilization in the manufacturing sector edged up to 77.8 percent in July from 77.6 in June, while capacity utilization in the mining and utilities sectors rose to 90.4 percent and 75.7 percent, respectively.
by RTT Staff Writer
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