Industrial production fell 0.4% in August after rising 0.6% in July, according to the Federal Reserve. The decline was largely due to falling output in manufacturing and utilities. Industrial production is currently 1.1% below its year-ago level.
Manufacturing output fell 0.4% in August after gaining 0.4% in July. The decline was largely due to a drop in both durable and nondurable goods production. Many durable goods industries reported drops of 1.0% or more.
Capacity utilization for manufacturing fell 0.4% to 74.8%, a rate that is 3.7 points below its long-run average.
The mining index increased 1.0%, as a decline in coal mining was more than offset by increases in oil and gas extraction, along with metal ore and nonmetallic mineral mining.
The utilities index fell by 1.4% in August, but remained 1.7% above its year-ago level due to hot temperatures and increased usage of air conditioning.
Read the Fed release.