Industrial Production Inches Up 0.1% In June, Slightly Less Than Expected

Industrial production in the United States inched up in June, according to a Federal Reserve report released Friday. The Fed said output rose 0.1% in June, the same rate as May, while economists had expected a 0.2% gain. Mining and utilities output grew 0.4%, and manufacturing output was unchanged. Total industrial production stood at 102.6% of its 2017 average and was 1.1% higher than a year earlier. Capacity utilization in the industrial sector was 76.1% in June, unchanged from a downwardly revised May reading, compared with expectations of 76.2%. Economists noted the data did not change the Fed’s outlook baseline. Bernard Yaros of Oxford Economics cited renewed U.S.-Iran hostilities as a key risk.