U.S. Industrial Production Inches Up 0.1% In May, Slightly Less Than Expected

(RTTNews) - A report released by the Federal Reserve on Monday showed a modest increase in industrial production in the U.S. in the month of May.

The Fed said industrial production crept up by 0.1 percent in May after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.9 percent in April.

Economists had expected industrial production to rise by 0.2 percent compared to the 0.7 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

The uptick in industrial production largely reflected a sharp increase in mining output, which jumped by 1.3 percent in May after edging up by 0.2 percent in April.

Meanwhile, the report said manufacturing output was unchanged in May after rising by 0.7 percent in April, while utilities output fell by 0.4 percent in May after surging by 2.2 percent in April.

The Fed also said capacity utilization in the industrial sector inched up to 76.2 percent in May from 76.1 percent in April. The uptick matched economist estimates.

Capacity utilization in the mining sector increased to 86.5 percent, while capacity utilization in the manufacturing sector was unchanged at 75.7 percent and capacity utilization in the utilities sector fell to 70.6 percent.