U.S. Industrial Production Rises In Line With Estimates In September

Industrial production in the U.S. increased in line with economist estimates in the month of September, according to a report released by the Federal Reserve on Tuesday.

The report said industrial production rose by 0.3 percent in September after climbing by 0.4 percent in August. The continued increase in production matched expectations.

The Fed said output growth in September was held down slightly by Hurricane Florence but noted the estimated negative effect was less than 0.1 percentage points.

Production growth in September was partly due to the fourth consecutive monthly increase in manufacturing output, which edged up by 0.2 percent after rising by 0.3 for two straight months.

Michael Pearce, Senior U.S. Economist at Capital Economics, said the continued increase in manufacturing output suggests tariffs are helping to boost domestic production.

"But with the appreciation of the dollar and slowdown in global growth set to weigh on the sector more heavily in the months ahead, growth in manufacturing output still looks set to weaken," Pearce said.

Mining output also climbed by 0.5 percent in September after rising by 0.4 percent in August, while utilities output was unchanged after jumping by 1.1 percent in the previous month.

The report also said capacity utilization for the industrial sector came in at 78.1 percent in September, unchanged from August. Capacity utilization had been expected to tick up to 78.2 percent.

While capacity utilization in the manufacturing sector inched up to 75.9 percent, capacity utilization in the mining and utilities sectors edged down to 92.1 percent and 77.7 percent, respectively.