Industrial production edged up 0.1% in March and increased at an annual rate of 7.8% in the first quarter. Manufacturing output rose 0.9% in March, led by widespread gains among durable goods industries. Factory production was likely held down in February by the winter storms but nonetheless rose at an annual rate of 6.6% for the first quarter as a whole.
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The output of mines increased 2.3% in March. Utilities output dropped 6.4%; after a relatively cold February, demand for heating fell in March as temperatures climbed to above-normal levels. At 101.6% of its 2002 average, industrial output in March was 4.0% above its year-earlier level.
Capacity utilization for total industry advanced 0.2 percentage point to 73.2%, a rate 7.4 percentage points below its average from 1972 to 2009, but 3.7 percentage points above the rate from a year earlier.
Cliff Waldman, economist for the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI, said:
"While consumer goods production was sluggish, it is not surprising that the output of business equipment is powering the manufacturing rebound as the economy recovers from a deep capital spending plunge and as businesses need to replace worn out equipment, at least enough to facilitate the output needs of the massive inventory replenishment that is now occurring."
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