U.S. Industrial Production Climbs 0.4% In March, In Line With Estimates

A report released by the Federal Reserve on Tuesday showed industrial production in the U.S. increased in line with economist estimates in the month of March.

The Fed said industrial production climbed by 0.4 percent in March, matching the upwardly revised advance in February.

Economists had expected industrial production to rise by 0.4 percent compared to the 0.1 percent uptick originally reported for the previous month.

The increase in production partly reflected a rebound by utilities output, which surged by 2.0 percent in March after plummeting by 7.6 percent in February

Manufacturing output also climbed by 0.5 percent in March after jumping by 1.2 percent in February, boosted in part by a 3.1 percent spike in motor vehicles and parts output.

Meanwhile, the report said mining output tumbled by 1.4 percent in March after surging by 3.0 percent in the previous month.

The Fed also said capacity utilization in the industrial sector rose to 78.4 percent in March from a downwardly revised 78.2 percent in February.

Economists had expected capacity utilization to climb to 78.5 percent from the 78.3 percent originally reported for the previous month.

Capacity utilization in the utilities sector jumped to 69.1 percent in March from 67.9 percent in February, while capacity utilization in the manufacturing sector rose to 77.4 percent from 77.1 percent.

On the other hand, capacity utilization in the mining sector fell to 91.0 in March from 92.3 percent in the previous month.