WASHINGTON - Industrial production fell 0.1% in May, while capacity use decreased slightly to 79.0%, the Federal Reserve reported Friday.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected production to rise 0.1% and 79.2% capacity use.
In April, production rose 1.0%, originally reported as 1.1%, while capacity use was an unadjusted 79.2%.
Manufacturing output dropped 0.4%. Excluding motor vehicles and parts, which fell 1.5%, manufacturing output was also down 0.4%.
“Outside of manufacturing, the output of mines advanced 0.9% in May, while the output of utilities rose 0.8%,” the Fed reported. “At 97.3% of its 2007 average, total industrial production in May was 4.7% above its year-earlier level. Capacity utilization for total industry declined 0.2-percentage point to 79.0% a rate 1.3 percentage points below its long-run (1972-2011) average.”
