Industrial Production Rose 0.6% in June, Manufacturing Rebounds Strongly

Industrial production increased 0.6% in June after falling 0.5% in May, slightly beating the median forecast. For the second quarter as a whole, industrial production advanced at an annual rate of 6.0%, its third consecutive quarterly increase.

Manufacturing output rebounded strongly, rising 0.8% in June and meeting the forecast.

The production of motor vehicles and parts rebounded last month after truck assemblies fell sharply in May because of a disruption at a parts supplier.

Factory output, aside from motor vehicles and parts, increased 0.3 percent in June. The index for mining rose 1.2 percent and surpassed the level of its previous historical peak (December 2014); the output of utilities moved down 1.5 percent.

At 107.7% of its 2012 average, total industrial production was 3.8% higher in June than it was a year earlier. Capacity utilization for the industrial sector increased 0.3% in June to 78.0 percent, a rate that is 1.8% below its long-run (1972–2017) average.