Industrial production increased 0.6 percent in July, after a 0.1 percent gain in June. This was the second consecutive monthly gain. Industrial production has increased 1.3 percent on the year.
After a 0.3 percent decline in June, manufacturing output increased primarily due to gains in motor vehicle assembly. Mining, increased 0.2 percent on the month, down from 0.7 percent in June. Mining output is currently 2.0 percent lower than it was in July of last year. Utilities output declined by 1.0 percent on the month, but increased 4.6 percent from last July.
Capacity utilization reached 78 basis points in July, up 30 basis points from last month’s revised estimate.
Production of final products increased 0.8 percent, largely due to a 1.2 percent increase in output of consumer goods, while energy products posted a loss of 1.3 percent.
Read the Federal Reserve release.