Production, Capacity Use Both Gained in August

Industrial production rose 0.8% in August, in line with economists’ estimates, though production was down 10.7% from a year ago, the Federal Reserve reported yesterday.

July’s industrial production was revised higher to a 1.0% increase from the initially reported 0.5% rise.

Capacity utilization rose to 69.6% from 69.0% in July. The figure is 11.3 percentage points below the average for the period between 1972 and 2008.

Excluding motor vehicles and parts, industrial production rose 0.4%.

Economists expected industrial production to rise 0.6% in August and for capacity utilization to be 69.0%, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.

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