U.S. Industrial Production Fall -0.3% In December, Electronics Up

The Federal Reserve Board reported Industrial Production this morning,

Industrial production declined 0.3 percent in January, as unseasonably warm weather held down the output of utilities and as a major manufacturer significantly slowed production of civilian aircraft.

The index for manufacturing edged down 0.1 percent in January; excluding the production of aircraft and parts, factory output advanced 0.3 percent.  The index for mining rose 1.2 percent. At 109.2 percent of its 2012 average, total industrial production was 0.8 percent lower in January than it was a year earlier. 

Market Groups
The major market groups posted mixed results in January. The output of business equipment declined 2.6 percent as a result of the slowdown in the production of aircraft. The step-down in the index for utilities contributed to decreases for consumer energy products and energy materials. The index for consumer durables rose, supported by an increase of 2.8 percent in the output of automotive products.

Industry Groups
Manufacturing output decreased 0.1 percent in January to a level 0.8 percent below its year-earlier reading. The production of durable goods moved down 0.5 percent in January, as drops for aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment and for machinery were partially offset by a gain for motor vehicles and parts. The output of nondurable manufacturing rose 0.3 percent, and almost all of its component categories
posted gains. The indexes for petroleum and coal products and for plastics and rubber products recorded increases of more than 1 percent, whereas only the index for apparel and leather recorded a decrease of more than 1 percent.

Mining output advanced 1.2 percent in January and stood 3.1 percent above its level of a year earlier. The output of utilities fell 4.0 percent in January, with electric and natural gas utilities posting declines of 3.2 percent and 7.7 percent, respectively.  – FRB