Mining Up, Utilities Down in July Industrial Production Report
Overall industrial production remained unchanged for July, according to a July Federal Reserve report (link opens as PDF) released today.
After mining and manufacturing helped push production up a revised 0.2% in June, analysts were expecting another month of growth. However, their expectations for a 0.3% increase proved too optimistic for July's report.
By major market groups, there were winners and losers. While consumer goods fell 0.5% and non-industrial supplies tapered off 0.3%, materials and construction productivity headed 0.4% and 0.5% higher, respectively.
Breaking productivity down by industries, results are also mixed. Mining made major gains with a 2.1% increase, but utilities proved to be 2.1% less productive for July. Manufacturing productivity dipped 0.1% after two months of small improvements.
July's dip reflected a drop in auto production. The decline was expected to be temporary given the banner sales year automakers are having.
Capacity utilization painted a mixed picture as well. Mining increased 1.5 points to an 89.5% utilization rate, while utilities fell 1.6 points to 76.2%. Manufacturing made a minuscule 0.1 point move down to 75.8%.
Source: Federal Reserve
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