Industrial production rose 0.8% in December after decreasing 0.7% in November. Over the last year, industrial production is up by 0.5%.
Manufacturing output increased 0.2% in December after a small decline of 0.1% in November. Production of durable goods increased by 0.5%, while most nondurables industries posted declines during the month. Capacity utilization for manufacturing increased by 0.1 percentage point to 74.8%, a rate that is 3.7 percentage points below its long-run average.
The mining index was unchanged in December. Crude oil extraction and oil and gas well drilling posted gains but were offset by declines in other mining categories.
The utilities index rose 6.6% in December, as temperatures returned to normal following unseasonably warm weather in November. The gain was the largest since December 1989.
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