U.S. Industrial Production Increases 0.7% In April, Much More Than Expected
(RTTNews) - The Federal Reserve released a report on Friday showing industrial production in the U.S. rebounded by much more than anticipated in the month of April.
The report said industrial production climbed by 0.7 percent in April after falling by a revised 0.3 percent in March.
Economists had expected industrial production to rise by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.5 percent decrease originally reported for the previous month.
"The better-than-expected reading of industrial production in April reinforces our baseline forecast for further growth in factory activity this year," said Bernard Yaros, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.
"All told, we look for industrial production to shake off the uncertainty created by the war thanks to the tailwinds from AI and fiscal policy," he added. "In addition, the inventory cycle will turn this year, supporting new orders growth for factories."
The bigger than expected increase in industrial production partly reflected a significant rebound in utilities output, which surged by 1.9 percent in April after tumbling by 1.4 percent in March.
Manufacturing output also climbed by 0.6 percent in April after inching up by 0.1 percent in March, while mining output edged down by 0.1 percent in April after slumping by 1.6 percent in March.
The report also said capacity utilization in the industrial sector rose to 76.1 percent in April from 75.7 percent in March. Economists had expected capacity utilization to tick up to 75.8 percent.
Capacity utilization in the utilities sector jumped to 71.1 percent and capacity utilization in the manufacturing sector increased to 75.8 percent, while capacity utilization in the mining sector edged down to 84.6 percent.
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