Industrial Output Boosted
Industrial production increased by 0.7% in September after a small rise in August of 0.1%. Overall industrial production is up by 2.2% when compared with last year, according to the latest G.17 report by the Federal Reserve. Industrial output rose by 2.8% year-on-year in the third quarter.
The biggest growth came within the utilities sector, which grew by 3.5%. However, manufacturing grew by only 0.3% while mining grew by just 0.2%. This indicates there is still some volatility in the data with utility production growing much higher than manufacturing and mining production throughout the country.
Capacity Utilization Indicates Room for Growth
Capacity utilization rose to 76.9% in September, showing that industries are making greater use of their capacity. Nevertheless, it remains in deficit of 2.5% compared to the longer-term average.
Utilities experienced good growth during the month. The manufacturing sector grew more slowly. Mining only saw a slight increase in production.
This suggests there is room for growth within US industries; however, it will look at whether they are seeing growth across all sectors. If manufacturing, mining, and utilities see continued growth, then we can determine how strong the growth is.
