U.S. industrial production rose in May, a welcome sign of strength in the sector after a spate of weak readings this year.
Industrial production, a measure of factory, mining and utility output, rose a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in May from the prior month, the Federal Reserve said Friday.
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected a 0.1% increase last month. April industrial production was revised to a decline of 0.4%, from an earlier reading of a 0.5% drop.
From a year earlier, industrial production rose 2% in May.
Utility production rose 2.1% in May, bouncing back from a sharp decline in April. Output at U.S. factories rose a more modest 0.2%. In the first four months of the year, it had decreased about 0.4% a month on average. The manufacturing industry’s output accounts for about 75% of the nation’s total industrial output.
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