Industrial production increased 0.7 percent in March after having advanced 1.2 percent in February, according to the Federal Reserve. The rise in February was higher than previously reported primarily because of stronger gains for durable goods manufacturing and for mining.
For the first quarter as a whole, industrial production moved up at an annual rate of 4.4 percent, just slightly slower than in the fourth quarter of 2013.
In March, the output of manufacturing rose 0.5 percent, the output of utilities increased 1 percent and the output of mines gained 1.5 percent.
At 103.2 percent of its 2007 average, total industrial production in March was 3.8 percent above its level of a year earlier. Capacity utilization for total industry increased in March to 79.2 percent, a rate that is 0.9 percentage point below its long-run (1972–2013) average but 1.2 percentage points higher than a year prior.
For more information, download the PDF below.
