Industrial Production Declined 0.4% in September

Washington, DC, October 17, 2019-Industrial production fell back 0.4% in September after advancing 0.8% in August, according to the Federal Reserve. For Q3, industrial production rose at an annual rate of 1.2% following declines of about 2% in both Q1 and Q2.

Manufacturing production decreased 0.5% in September, with output reduced by a strike at a major manufacturer of motor vehicles. Excluding motor vehicles and parts, the overall index and the manufacturing index each moved down 0.2%. Mining production fell 1.3%, while utilities output rose 1.4%.

At 109.5 percent of its 2012 average, total industrial production was 0.1% lower in September than it was a year earlier. Capacity utilization for the industrial sector decreased 0.4 percentage point in September to 77.5%, a rate that is 2.3 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2018) average.