The data published
by the Federal Reserve on Friday revealed that the U.S. industrial production increased
by 0.5 per cent m-o-m in January
2025, following an upwardly revised 1.0 per cent m-o-m surge m-o-m (from +0.9 per cent m-o-m) in December 2024.
Economists had forecast
industrial production would grow 0.3 per cent m-o-m in January.
According to
the report, increases
in the output of aircraft and parts contributed 0.2 percentage point to total output
growth following the earlier resolution of a work stoppage at a major aircraft
manufacturer. Nonetheless, manufacturing output recorded a 0.1 per cent m-o-m
decrease, dragged down by a 5.2 cent per m-o-m fall in the production of motor
vehicles and parts. In addition, mining production plunged 1.2 per cent
m-o-m. Meanwhile, output of utilities surged 7.2 per cent m-o-m, underpinned
by higher demand for heating amid cold temperatures.
Capacity utilization for the industrial sector increased by 0.3 percentage point m-o-m to 77.8 per cent in January from a downwardly revised 77.5 per cent (from 77.6 per
cent) in December. That was 0.1 percentage point above economists’ estimate of 77.7 per cent but 1.8 percentage points
below its long-run (1972-2024)
average.
In y-o-y terms, the industrial output jumped 2.0 per cent in January,
following a downwardly revised 0.3 per cent gain (from +0.5 per cent) in the previous month. This
marked the strongest annual advance in U.S. industrial production since October
2022 (+3.1 per cent).