Industrial production rose 0.4% in March after a revised 1.1% gain in February, first reported as a 0.8% increase, while capacity utilization edged up to 78.5% from an unrevised 78.3% in February, the Federal Reserve reported Tuesday.
The February gain in industrial production was higher than the 0.2% increase projected by economists polled by Thomson Reuters, and the increase in capacity utilization was above the 78.4% predicted.
Manufacturing output was off 0.1% for March following a revised 0.9% rise the previous month, originally reported as a 0.6% increase.
Utilities rose 5.3% in March after climbing a revised 2.5% in February, originally reported as a 1.6% gain, the Fed reported.
