US September Industrial production -0.3% versus -0.2% expected

• Prior month +0.8% revised to 0.3%
• industrial production for September -0.3% vs -0.2% expected
• Capacity utilization 77.5% versus 77.8% estimate.
• Prior month capacity utilization 78.0% revised to 77.8%
• Manufacturing output -0.4% vs -0.1% expected
• Prior manufacturing output +0.9% revised to 0.5%

Other details

• For the third quarter as a whole, industrial production declined at an annual rate of 0.6 percent.
• Manufacturing output moved down 0.4 percent in September, and the index for mining fell 0.6 percent.
• The index for utilities gained 0.7 percent.
• At 102.6 percent of its 2017 average, total industrial production in September was 0.6 percent below its year-earlier level.
• Capacity utilization edged down to 77.5 percent in September, a rate that is 2.2 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2023) average

Negative revisions and lower-than-expected industrial production and capacity utilization run counter to the earlier data. However, A strike at a major producer of civilian aircraft (Boeiing) held down total IP growth by an estimated 0.3 percent in September, and the effects of two hurricanes subtracted an estimated 0.3 percent. Take out those negatives and the data is not as bad as the first look.

This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.