The Federal
Reserve reported on Tuesday that the U.S. industrial production was unchanged
m-o-m in June, following an unrevised 0.4 percent m-o-m increase in May.
Economists had
forecast industrial production would increase 0.1 percent m-o-m in June.
According to
the report, the manufacturing output advanced 0.4 percent m-o-m in June, helped
by a significant increase in production of motor vehicles and part (+3 percent
m-o-m). Excluding motor vehicles and parts, manufacturing output rose only 0.2
percent m-o-m. Meanwhile, the output of utilities plunged 3.6 percent m-o-m, as
milder-than-usual temperatures in June reduced the demand for air conditioning.
The mining production moved up 0.2 percent m-o-m.
Capacity
utilization for the industrial sector decreased 0.2 percentage point m-o-m in June
to 77.9 percent. That was 0.2 percentage point below economists’ forecast and
1.9 percentage points below its long-run (1972-2018) average.
In y-o-y terms,
the industrial output rose 1.3 percent in June, following a revised 2.1 percent
advance in the prior month (originally a gain of 2.0 percent).
For the second
quarter as a whole, industrial production reduced at an annual rate of 1.2
percent, its second consecutive quarterly decrease.