Industrial Production Rose 0.3% in December

Washington, DC, January 18, 2019-Industrial production increased 0.3% in December after rising 0.4% in November, according to the Federal Reserve. 

For the fourth quarter as a whole, total industrial production moved up at an annual rate of 3.8%. 

In December, manufacturing output increased 1.1%, its largest gain since February 2018. The output of mines rose 1.5%, but the index for utilities fell 6.3%, as warmer-than-usual temperatures lowered the demand for heating.

At 109.9% of its 2012 average, total industrial production was 4.0% higher in December than it was a year earlier. Capacity utilization for the industrial sector rose 0.1 percentage point in December to 78.7%, a rate that is 1.1 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2017) average.