U.S. industrial production increased in December

According to the Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization report released today by the Federal Reserve, U.S. industrial production increased 0.6 percent in December after gains of 0.8 percent in November and 1.0 percent in October.

For the fourth quarter as a whole, industrial production increased 3.8 percent at an annual rate. Over the twelve months of 2005, total industrial production increased 2.8 percent, to 109.8 percent of its 2002 average, while total industrial capacity rose 1.7 percent. The rate of capacity utilization in December, at 80.7 percent, stood 1.0 percentage point above its year-earlier level and was 0.3 percentage point below its 1972-2004 average.

Manufacturing production rose 0.2 percent in December, and the factory operating rate remained at 79.6 percent, which is 1.3 percentage points above its year-earlier level and 0.2 percentage point below its 1972-2004 average. The production of durable goods edged down 0.1 percent. The largest decline within this category was in the output of motor vehicles and parts, which fell 2.8 percent, although the indexes for wood products and nonmetallic mineral products also decreased more than 2 percent. The largest increase in the production of durable goods was in the computer and electronic products industry; gains also occurred in the indexes for aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment, primary metal, furniture and related products, and machinery.

The full release can be found here.