Industrial production increased 0.2 percent in January after decreasing 0.3 percent in December, according to the Federal Reserve. In January, manufacturing output moved up 0.2 percent and was 5.6 percent above its previous year level. The index for mining decreased 1 percent, due to a substantial drop in the index for oil and gas well drilling and related support activities.
At 106.2 percent of its 2007 average, total industrial production in January was 4.8 percent above its level of a year earlier. For the fourth quarter of 2014, production advanced at an annual rate of 4.3 percent. Capacity utilization for the industrial sector was unchanged in January at 79.4 percent, a rate that is 0.7 percentage point below its long-run (1972–2014) average.
Among the major market groups, the indexes for consumer goods, business equipment, business supplies and materials all registered gains in January, while losses were recorded by construction supplies and by defense and space equipment. The index for consumer goods moved up 0.2 percent as a result of a gain of 2.3 percent for consumer energy products. The output of durable consumer goods decreased 1 percent and the production of non-energy nondurables was unchanged. The output of business equipment increased 0.8 percent, with increases of 1 percent in the indexes for information processing equipment and for industrial and other equipment. The index for materials rose 0.2 percent, with broad-based gains among durable and nondurable materials partly offset by a small decrease in the output of energy materials.
Manufacturing output rose 0.2 percent in January, as the production of durable goods advanced 0.4 percent and the production of nondurable goods was unchanged.
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