Manufacturing output increased by 0.5 per cent in March and was 0.8 per cent above its year-earlier level.

At 102.7 per cent of its 2017 average, total industrial production in March was unchanged compared with its year-earlier level.

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Capacity utilization moved up to 78.4 per cent in March, a rate that is 1.2 percentage points (pp) below its long-run (1972–2023) average.

Most major market groups recorded growth in March. The production of consumer durables gained 1.9 per cent.

Elsewhere, there were significant gains in the indexes of non-durable consumer goods (1 per cent), defence and space equipment (0.9 per cent) and business supplies (0.8 per cent).

In contrast, the production of energy materials decreased by 0.3 per cent, a Fed release said.

For Q1 2024, factory output ticked down by 0.1 per cent at an annual rate. The indexes for durable manufacturing and non-durable manufacturing moved up by 0.3 per cent and 0.7 per cent in March respectively.

Capacity utilisation for manufacturing moved up by 0.3 pp in March to 77.4 per cent, a rate that is 0.8 pp below its long-run average.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)