U.S. Industrial Production Down 0.5% In December

Industrial production fell 0.3% in December, the third decline in the past four months, the Federal Reserve reported Friday.

The decline was expected and reflected in the December unemployment report released last week, where manufacturing shed 12,000 jobs.

Industrial production was down at a 0.5% annual rate in Q4. Production was down in three of the four quarters of 2019.  Output was down 1% on a year-over-year basis.

Manufacturing output rose 0.2% in December but was down 1 percent in Q4.  Manufacturing in December was hit by 4.6% decline in motor vehicles and parts production. Auto production fell to 10.3 million units in December from 11.2 million in the prior month. It is expected automakers are planning to reduce production in 2020  as sales are slowing.

Electronics Manufacturing

The electronics industry x/auto and Boeing is doing better.  Computer and electronic products manufacturing was up 1.4 percent for the month and 7.0 percent year-on-year.   Electrical equipment and appliances were up 0.6 percent in December but off -1.0 percent the year ending in December.

See here for full data.