U.S. Industrial Production Rose in May
June 15 2021 - 9:51AM
Dow Jones News
By Xavier Fontdegloria
Industrial production in the U.S. rose for a third straight
month, but supply-chain disruptions continued to restrain
industrial output growth.
Industrial production--which includes factory, mining and
utility output--increased at a seasonally adjusted 0.8% in May
compared with April, the Federal Reserve reported Tuesday. The
reading is above forecasts from economists surveyed by The Wall
Street Journal, who expected a 0.6% rise.
April's industrial production gain was revised down to 0.1% from
an initial estimate of a 0.7% increase.
Manufacturing output--the biggest component of industrial
production--climbed 0.9% in May from the prior month, supported by
a 6.7% rebound in motor vehicle and parts production following a
sharp fall the previous month.
However, auto production continued to be hampered by shortages
of semiconductors, the Fed said.
Strength in the industrial sector continued in May amid red-hot
demand fuelled by high consumer spending, but factory output is
increasing at a slower pace than would be the case in the absence
of widespread materials shortages and slowing delivery times. "The
speed limit for production growth is being set by the availability
of scarce resources," economists from Wells Fargo said.
Industrial production in May was 16.3% above the same month a
year earlier, but 1.4% below pre-pandemic levels.
Utilities output increased 0.2% in May, while mining output rose
1.2%, the Fed said.
Capacity utilization, which reflects how much industries are
producing compared with what they could potentially produce,
increased to 75.2% in May. Economists expected a 75.1% reading.
Capacity utilization for manufacturing rose by 0.7 percentage
points to 75.6%.
Write to Xavier Fontdegloria at xavier.fontdegloria@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 15, 2021 09:51 ET (13:51 GMT)
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