Industrial production decreased 0.4% in June after having fallen 1.2% in May. For the second quarter as a whole, output fell at an annual rate of 11.6%, a more moderate contraction than in the first quarter, when output fell 19.1%.
Manufacturing output moved down 0.6% in June, with declines at both durable and nondurable goods producers. Outside of manufacturing, the output of mines fell 0.5% in June, and the output of utilities increased 0.8%.
The rate of capacity utilization for total industry declined in June to 68.0%, a level 12.9 percentage points below its average for 1972-2008. Prior to the current recession, the low over the history of this series, which begins in 1967, was 70.9% in December 1982. …
