U.S. Industrial Output Fell Again Last Month

Production by U.S. factories, mines and utilities fell 0.3% in January after a 0.5% drop in December, the Federal Reserve reported Friday in a report that has strong implications for trucking shipments.

That output decline brought capacity utilization by U.S. industry down to 80.2%, meaning that unused capacity is now the lowest since August 1992, when the economy was still struggling to grow solidly after the 1990-91 recession.

The overall decline in output last month was partly driven by a big decline for utilities, which is a volatile part of the data and can rise or fall sharply on weather changes.

Of more concern to the trucking industry, and the economy in general, is that manufacturing output edged down another 0.1% in January after its sharp 1.1% drop in December and a 0.6% decline in November.

There were several signs in January that the economic slide was not as severe as at yearend, including Friday’s report that housing starts rose 5.3% last month.

However, February has brought a new wave of manufacturing cutbacks, and the Philadelphia Fed bank said Thursday that its factory sector contracted again this month. Transport Topics