US industrial production falls in Nov

According to the Federal Reserve, industrial output in the US fell by 0.4% in November on a monthly basis after it remained stable in October and beat the economists’ estimates which called for a drop of 0.2% in a survey by The Wall Street Journal. The Index also showed that the industrial output in November dropped by 0.6% on a yearly basis due to the decreases in utility and mining output.

Manufacturing output was down by 0.1% in November after the increases in the previous two months. The decrease was driven by the decline in production of long lasting durable goods, mainly motor vehicles and parts. However, manufacturing output increased by 0.1% year-on-year.

Utilities also dropped by 4.4% in November. This was caused by the fact that the unexpectedly warm weather decreased the demand for heating.

As an indicator of how much production is utilized, industrial capacity was at 75% in November, matching the expectations of 75.1%. However it was up by 0.4% on an annual basis.
Meanwhile, the mining sector showed more signs of stabilizing with a monthly increase of 1.1% in November after an increase of 1.9% in October.