US industrial production rises 0.4% in March, higher than 0.2% estimate

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) – US industrial production rose 0.4% in March, beating market estimates, according to Federal Reserve data released Friday.

Expectations said the figure would show a gain of 0.2% last month, while industrial output expanded 0.2% in February.

Industrial production also climbed 0.5% at an annual rate in March, the Fed noted.

Manufacturing output, on the other hand, dropped 0.5% in March from the month before. It contracted 1.1% on an annual basis.

While the figure came in worse than estimates of a 0.1% monthly contraction, it was a sudden reversal from the 0.6% increase recorded in February.

Capacity utilization, which indicates overall growth and demand in the economy, moved up 0.2 percentage points to 79.8% in March.

The figure came higher than projections of 79.0%, after standing at 79.6% in February.