NEW YORK - Industrial production was gained 1.1% in April, while capacity use increased to 79.2%, the Federal Reserve reported Tuesday.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected production to rise 0.6% and 79.0% capacity use.
In March, production fell 0.6%, originally reported as flat, while capacity use was 78.4%, originally seen as 78.6%
Manufacturing output rose 0.6%, while excluding motor vehicles and parts, which grew nearly 4%percent, manufacturing output was up 0.3%, and output for all but a few major industries increased.
“Production at mines rose 1.6%, and the output of utilities gained 4.5% after unseasonably warm weather in the first quarter held down demand for heating,” the Fed said. “At 97.4 percent of its 2007 average, total industrial production for April was 5.2% above its year-earlier level. The rate of capacity utilization for total industry moved up to 79.2%, a rate 3.1 percentage points above its level from a year earlier but 1.1 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2011) average."
