2019.09.1709:40:00UTC+00U.S. Industrial Production Rebounds Much More Than Expected In August

After unexpectedly reporting a modest drop in U.S. industrial production in the previous month, the Federal Reserve released a report on Tuesday showing industrial production rebounded by much more than anticipated in the month of August.

The report said industrial production climbed by 0.6 percent in August after edging down by a revised 0.1 percent in August.

Economists had expected industrial production to rise by 0.2 percent compared to the 0.2 percent dip originally reported for the previous month.

The bigger than expected rebound in production came as manufacturing output rose by 0.5 percent in August, more than reversing the 0.4 percent decrease in July.

The Fed noted factory output has increased 0.2 percent per month over the past four months after having decreased 0.5 percent per month during the first four months of the year.

Mining output also showed a substantial rebound, surging up by 1.4 percent in August after tumbling by 1.5 percent in July. Output in July had been suppressed by a cutback in oil extraction in the Gulf of Mexico due to Hurricane Barry.

Reflecting gains in both electric and natural gas utilities, utilities output increased by 0.6 percent in August after spiking by 3.7 percent in the previous month.

The report also said capacity utilization for the industrial sector climbed to 77.9 percent in August after dropping to 77.5 percent in July. Capacity utilization had been expected to inch up to 77.6 percent.

Capacity utilization for manufacturing increased to 75.7 percent, while capacity utilization for the mining and utilities sectors rose to 90.5 percent and 76.7 percent, respectively.