Industrial Production Rises 0.4% in September

Industrial production in the United States rose 0.4% in September, the biggest gain since early 2000, the Federal Reserve said Thursday.

The manufacturing sector is one of trucking’s largest and most important customers.

In other economic news released Thursday, the Labor Department said consumer prices rose 0.3% in September, mostly reflecting higher gasoline prices, and the number of Americans filing initial claims for jobless benefits fell 4,000 in the week ended Oct. 11 to 384,000, the lowest level since early February.

The Federal Reserve said in its report that capacity use rose to 74.7% in September, from 74.5% in August, the fastest pace since March.

Production at factories, which makes up more than four-fifths of total industrial output, rose 0.7%, the largest gain since April 2000.

Motor vehicles and parts production surged ahead by 6.6% in September, and production of consumer automotive parts rose 6.3%, the Fed said.

The small increase in Labor's consumer price index, which is the government's most closely watched inflation barometer, should ease the Fed's concerns about deflation, the Associated Press reported.

Excluding energy and food prices, "core" consumer prices edged up 0.1% in September for the second consecutive month. For the 12 months ending September, consumer prices rose by 2.3%, compared with a 2.4% rise for all of last year.

Energy prices rose by 3% in September, led by a 6.3% jump in gasoline prices.

The latest report on the job market found that the four-week moving average of initial claims, seen as more reliable indicator because it irons out weekly fluctuations, declined 4,250 to 390,750, also the lowest since early February.

However, Labor also noted the number of Americans claiming benefits after filing an initial claim climbed 58,000 to 3.67 million for the week ended Oct. 4. That shows that many workers are still having a difficult time finding jobs, Reuters said.

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