U.S. Industrial Production Edges Slightly Higher In September

(RTTNews) - Industrial production in the U.S. edged slightly higher in the month of September, the Federal Reserve revealed in a long-delayed report released on Wednesday.

The Fed said industrial production inched up by 0.1 percent September after dipping by a revised 0.3 percent in August.

Economists had expected industrial production to come in unchanged compared to the 0.1 percent uptick originally reported for the previous month.

The modest increase by industrial production came amid a substantial rebound by utilities output, which surged by 1.1 percent in September after plunging by 3.0 percent in August.

Meanwhile, the report said manufacturing and mining output were both unchanged in September compared to the previous month.

"September's rise in industrial production was flattered by idiosyncratic strength in utilities, but the trend remains favorable in manufacturing, where the share of subindustries in contraction continues to fall," said Bernard Yaros, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.

The Fed also said capacity utilization in the industrial sector came in at 75.9 in September, unchanged from a revised reading in August.

Capacity utilization in the utilities sector rose to 69.9 percent, while capacity utilization in the mining sector was unchanged at 85.4 percent and capacity utilization in the manufacturing sector edged down to 75.5 percent.