The Federal Reserve said Friday that industrial output, together with factories, utilities and mines, rose 0.4% in May, later tumbling 0.4% in April.

 

Manufacturing output accelerated just 0.2% last month, inadequate to overcome declines in prior months. Factory production is down 1.5% since the end of 2018, an indication of the potential destruction from the import taxes the Trump administration has placed on China. During the first quarter of this year, motor vehicle production plunged 14.9%. Furniture output decrease 5.8%. Clothing production has dropped 22.6%.

 

Factories' total capacity utilization in May was 75.7%, down from 77.3% in December 2018. The lower utilization levels encourage that factories are seeing less demand than manufacturers had expected.

 

Production at the nation's utilities rose 2.1%, caused by bigger use of natural gas and electricity.

 

Production at mines, a sector that also covers oil and natural gas, advanced a modest 0.1%. Gains in oil and natural gas extraction were very nearly offset by a downfall in drilling.

 

This article is originally posted on tronserve.com