U.S. Industrial Production Slips 0.2%

U.S. industrial production fell 0.2% in January after a revised gain of 0.9% in December, the Federal Reserve reported Feb. 15. Analysts on Wall Street had expected an increase of 0.2%.

The report, which includes the output of factories, mines and utilities, was hit by a 10.1% decline in utility output as a result of unseasonably mild January weather.

Manufacturing was up 0.7% and mining output was up 1.7%. Capacity utilization -- an indicator of slack in the industrial economy and a harbinger of inflation -- jumped to 80.9%, the central bank said.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2006