With a sharp drop in utilities output offsetting increases in mining and manufacturing output, the Federal Reserve released a report on Friday showing that U.S. industrial production unexpectedly came in unchanged in the month of May.
The report said industrial production came in flat in May following a revised 0.4 percent decrease in April. Economists had expected production to rise by 0.2 percent compared to the 0.5 percent drop originally reported for the previous month.
While mining output rose by 0.7 percent in May after rising by 1.1 percent in April, manufacturing output inched up by just 0.1 percent following a 0.4 percent drop in the previous month.
The increases in mining and manufacturing output in May were offset by a 1.8 percent decrease by utilities output, which followed a 3.2 percent drop in April.
Rob Carnell, chief international economist at ING, said, "The headline production figure would have been better but for another drag from utilities, and we expect some bounce from this sector in the coming months."
"Nonetheless, this was not a great figure, and reinforces our sense that the run of data in the U.S., though stronger than might have been expected some months ago, is rather mixed," he added.
The Federal Reserve also said the rate of capacity utilization for total industry edged down to 77.6 percent in May from a revised 77.7 percent in April.
The capacity utilization rate had been expected to inch up to 77.9 percent from the 77.8 percent originally reported for the previous month.
Capacity utilization in the utilities sector fell to 77.3 percent from 78.7 percent, while capacity utilization in the mining sector rose to 88.2 percent from 87.9 percent and capacity utilization in the manufacturing sector was unchanged at 75.8 percent.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Economic News
What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.