October Industrial Production Down 0.8%

Washington, DC, November 15, 2019-Industrial production fell 0.8% in October after declining 0.3% in September, according to the Federal Reserve. 

Manufacturing production decreased 0.6% in October. Much of this decline was due to a drop of 7.1% in the output of motor vehicles and parts that resulted from a strike at a major manufacturer of motor vehicles. The decreases for total industrial production, manufacturing, and motor vehicles and parts were their largest since May 2018, April 2019, and January 2019, respectively.

Excluding motor vehicles and parts, the index for total industrial production moved down 0.5%, and the index for manufacturing edged down 0.1%. Mining production decreased 0.7%, while utilities output fell 2.6%.

At 108.7% of its 2012 average, total industrial production was 1.1% lower in October than it was a year earlier. Capacity utilization for the industrial sector decreased 0.8 percentage point in October to 76.7%, a rate that is 3.1 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2018) average.