U.S. Industrial Production Rebounds Less Than Expected In March
April 15 2021 - 6:34AM
RTTF2
After reporting a sharp pullback in U.S. industrial production
in the previous month, the Federal Reserve released a report on
Thursday showing production rebounded in the month of March.
The Fed said industrial production jumped by 1.4 percent in
March after plunging by a downwardly revised 2.6 percent in
February.
The rebound fell short of expectations, however, as economists
had expected production to spike by 2.8 percent compared to the 2.2
percent slump originally reported for the previous month.
"Industrial output did recover following weather-related
disruptions in February, but the scale of the bounce-back was a
little disappointing," said James Knightley, Chief International
Economist at ING.
He added, "A significant proportion of this can be blamed on
semiconductor shortages, but as this situation improves, the
manufacturing sectors looks set to roar back strongly."
The increase in industrial production came as manufacturing
output surged up by 2.7 percent in March after tumbling by 3.7
percent in February, while mining output soared by 5.7 percent
after plummeting by 5.6 percent.
Meanwhile, the report showed an 11.4 percent nosedive in
utilities output in March following a 9.2 percent spike in
February, as the demand for heating fell because of a swing in
temperatures.
The Fed also said capacity utilization for the industrial sector
rose to 74.4 percent in March from a downwardly revised 73.4 in
February.
Economists had expected capacity utilization to climb to 75.7
percent from the 73.8 percent originally reported for the previous
month.
Capacity utilization in the manufacturing and mining sectors
increased to 73.8 percent and 82.2 percent, respectively, while
capacity utilization in the utilities sector slid to 68.8
percent.
US Dollar vs CHF (FX:USDCHF)
Forex Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
US Dollar vs CHF (FX:USDCHF)
Forex Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024