The data issued by the Federal Reserve on Friday revealed that the U.S.
industrial production increased 0.2 per cent m-o-m in November, following a
downwardly revised 0.9 per cent m-o-m fall (from -0.6 per cent m-o-m) in October.
Economists had expected that industrial production would increase by 0.3 per
cent m-o-m in November.
According to the report, the November advance in total industrial
production reflected gains in manufacturing production (+0.3 per cent m-o-m) and mining output (+0.3
per cent m-o-m) that were partly offset by a drop in output of utilities (-0.4
per cent m-o-m)
The Fed noted that much of the November rebound in manufacturing output
was due to a 7.1 per cent bounceback in motor vehicles and parts production
following the resolution of strikes at several major automakers.
Meanwhile, capacity utilization for the industrial sector edged up 0.1
percentage point m-o-m to 78.8 per
cent in November from a downwardly revised 78.7 per cent (from 78.9
per cent) in October. That was 0.3 percentage point below
economists’ forecast of 79.1 per
cent and 0.9 percentage point below its long-run (1972-2022) average.
In y-o-y terms, the industrial output decreased
0.4 per cent in November, following a downwardly revised 1.0 per cent decline (from -0.7
per cent) in the previous month. That marked the third straight annual fall in U.S. industrial production.