Manufacturing output increased 0.5% in March and was 0.8% higher than the same period last year.
At 102.7% of the 2017 average, total industrial output in March was unchanged from the previous year's level.
The Federal Reserve said US industrial production rose 0.4% in March, but fell at a 1.8% annual rate in the first quarter of 2024. Manufacturing output increased 0.5% in the month 3 and 0.8% higher than the same period last year. At 102.7% of the 2017 average, industrial production in March was unchanged from the previous year's level.
Capacity utilization increased to 78.4% in March, which is 1.2 percentage points (pp) below the long-term average (1972–2023).
Most major market groups recorded growth in March. Production of durable consumer goods increased by 1.9%.
Elsewhere, there were significant increases in the consumer nondurables index (1%), defense and aerospace equipment (0.9%) and business supplies (0.8%).
In contrast, production of energy materials decreased 0.3%, the Fed release said.
In the first quarter of 2024, factory output fell 0.1% on an annual basis. The durable manufacturing and non-durable manufacturing indexes increased 0.3% and 0.7% respectively in March.
Manufacturing capacity utilization increased 0.3 percentage points in March to 77.4%, which is 0.8 percentage points below the long-term average.
Fiber2 Fashion News Desk (DS)
