Industrial Production Slips 0.1% in January

Industrial production dipped 0.1% in January, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday.

The downturn followed a revised 1.2% gain in December that was larger than the 0.8% gain originally reported.

The January downturn was led by a decline in utility output, and analysts had forecast a 0.5% increase in industrial production, Bloomberg reported.

Manufacturing, which makes up three-quarters of the total, rose 0.3%.

The share of industrial capacity in use slipped to 76.1%, from 76.2% in December.

Manufacturing accounts for about an eighth of the U.S. economy and the factory sector is one of trucking’s largest and most important customers.