U.S. Industrial Production Dips Amid Slump In Heating Demand
January 17 2020 - 4:29AM
RTTF2
With utilities output plummeting amid a slump in demand for
heating, the Federal Reserve released a report on Friday showing a
modest pullback in U.S. industrial production in the month of
December.
The Fed said industrial production fell by 0.3 percent in
December after climbing by a downwardly revised 0.8 percent in
November.
Economists had expected industrial production to dip by 0.2
percent compared to the 1.1 percent jump originally reported for
the previous month.
The pullback in production came as utilities output plunged by
5.6 percent in December after surging up by 1.0 percent in
November, with unseasonably warm weather leading to a large
decrease in demand for heating.
Meanwhile, the report said manufacturing output crept up by 0.2
percent in December after spiking by 1.0 percent in November, while
mining output jumped by 1.3 percent following a 0.2 percent
decrease.
The Fed also said capacity utilization for the industrial sector
slid to 77.0 percent in December after climbing to an upwardly
revised 77.4 percent in November.
Economists had expected capacity utilization to slip to 77.1
percent from the 77.3 percent originally reported for the previous
month.
Capacity utilization in the utilities sector led the way lower,
tumbling to 73.5 percent in December from 78.0 percent in
November.
On the other hand, capacity utilization in the manufacturing
sector inched up to 75.2 percent in December from 75.1 percent in
November and capacity utilization in mining sector rose to 89.6
percent from 88.8 percent.
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