US industrial output slips for 1st time in 4 months

Industrial production in the United States fell for the first time in four months, amid pressure seen by the utilities sector as temperatures rose above normal last month. However, industrial production is still up 1.3% year-on-year.

Data released by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday showed that industrial production in March fell 0.3% month-on-month, compared to expectations of a 0.2% contraction from February, when it rose 0.8%.

Among consumer goods, durable goods production rose 0.5%, while the non-durable goods index fell 1.4%.

Mining output rose by 0.6%, but was little changed in the first quarter as a whole. Manufacturing activity rose by 0.3% in March, with factory output expanding by 5.1% year-on-year in Q1 2025.

While the utilities production index declined by 5.8%, with electric utility production falling 5.1% and natural gas utility production slipping 11.1%, utilities production rose by 16.2% YoY in the first quarter.