WASHINGTON - Industrial production rose 0.6% in July, while capacity use increased to 79.3%, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday.
Those numbers were near expectations, as economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected production to rise 0.5% and predicted a 79.2% capacity use.
In June production rose 0.1%, originally reported as a 0.4% increase, while capacity use was an unadjusted 78.9%.
Manufacturing output rose 0.5% in both July and the prior month. On a year over year basis, production rose 4.4%.
"The production index for durable goods increased 0.8% in July," the Fed reported. "Gains of more than 1% were recorded in primary metals, in computer and electronic products, in motor vehicles and parts, in aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment, and in miscellaneous manufacturing. Only wood products, nonmetallic mineral products, and machinery posted decreases."