US Federal Reserve data Wednesday showed that industrial production increased 0.3 percent in December after having risen 1.0 percent in November when production rebounded in the industries that had been negatively affected by Hurricane Sandy in late October. For Q4 as a whole, total industrial production moved up at an annual rate of 1.0 percent.
Manufacturing output advanced 0.8 percent in December following a gain of 1.3 percent in November; production edged up at an annual rate of 0.2 percent in Q4. The output at mines rose 0.6 percent in December, and the output of utilities fell 4.8 percent as unseasonably warm weather held down the demand for heating. Capacity utilization for total industry moved up 0.1 percentage point to 78.8 percent.