U.S. Industrial Production Rises
U.S. industrial production increased modestly in March, in keeping with economist forecasts, according to .
Whats going on: Industrial production in the United States rose by 0.4% in March after increasing 0.1% in the previous month, the Federal Reserves Board of Governors stated in its report published on Tuesday.
The details: Manufacturing output increased 0.5% on a monthly basis and 0.8% on an annual basis. It rose 1.2% in February.
- Mining declined 1.4% in March and 2.0% year on year.
- The utilities index grew 2.0% for the month but declined 3.1% year on year.
Capacity utilization: Capacity utilizationa measure of potential outputfor the industrial sector as a whole increased to 78.4%, up from 78.2% in February but 1.2 percentage points below its long-run average.
What it means: These data are among signs that manufacturing is starting to pick up, (subscription) reports.
- The S&P Global U.S. Manufacturing PMI has been in expansion territory for the past three months, and the ISM factory index was 50.3 in March, the first reading above the break-even level of 50 since September 2022.
