Industrial production declined 0.1% in May, the Federal Reserve reported Friday. The decline followed a revised 0.9% increase in April, first reported as a 0.5% gain.
At 107.3% of its 2012 average, total industrial production was 3.5% higher in May than it was a year earlier, the Fed said.
Capacity utilization decreased to 77.9% in May from April’s unrevised 78.0%.
Economists polled by IFR Markets projected a 0.2% increase in industrial production and a 78.1% capacity utilization rate.
Manufacturing production fell 0.7% in May, “largely because truck assemblies were disrupted by a major fire at a parts supplier,” the Fed said. Excluding motor vehicles and parts, factory output dropped 0.2%.
The index for mining rose 1.8%, the fourth straight monthly increase; the output of utilities moved increased 1.1%.
