WASHINGTON — Industrial production increased 0.2% in August as utility production dropped, the Federal Reserve reported Thursday.
Capacity utilization edged up to 77.4% from 77.3% in July.
Economists expected industrial production would be up 0.1% for the month and capacity utilization would be 77.5%, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
Production rose 0.9% in July, unrevised from the initial estimate.
Manufacturing production increased 0.5% in August. Utility production fell 3.0% while mining output increased 1.2%.