The nation’s industrial production dropped 0.6 percent in September, after holding steady in August, the Federal Reserve Tuesday reported.
The decline was the first since January, and the biggest since September 2005, when the shutdowns caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused production to fall 1.3 percent.
For the third quarter, production rose at an annualized rate of 3.6 percent, well below the gains of the previous three quarters, the Fed reported. But production at the end of the quarter was still 5.5 percent above that a year earlier.
Manufacturing-sector output declined 0.3 percent in September, the Fed reported, after gaining 0.2 percent in August. Utilities output plunged 4.4 percent last month, while mining output gained 0.7 percent. Overall capital utilization declined 0.6 percent, to 81.9 percent. But, the report noted, that was still higher than the rate from mid-2000 to early 2006.
Production declines, though led by consumer energy products and consumer durables, were seen for all major market groups.
The Fed’s governing board, which is to meet next week, left rates unchanged at its meetings in August and September. That ended a string of 17 straight rate hikes with which it aimed to control inflation. (The board is to meet again Oct. 24. The key overnight lending rate, used in loans between banks, is now at 5.25 percent)
The full, 18-page statistical release, “Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization,” including revisions of prior-year figures, can be found online at www.federalreserve.gov.
