(RTTNews) - A report released by the Federal Reserve on Thursday unexpectedly showed a modest decrease in U.S. industrial production in the month of November.
The Fed said industrial production slipped by 0.2 percent in November after edging down by 0.1 percent in October. Economists had expected industrial production to inch up by 0.1 percent.
The unexpected dip in industrial production came as manufacturing output fell by 0.6 percent and mining output slid by 0.7 percent.
Meanwhile, a 3.6 percent spike in utilities output helped limit the downside amid unseasonably cold weather across much of the country.
"The 0.6% drop in manufacturing output last month matches the already-reported decline in retail sales and provides further evidence that the economy has lost some serious momentum," said Andrew Hunter, Senior U.S. Economist at Capital Economics.
He added, "With weak global growth and the strong dollar compounding the domestic drag from higher interest rates, we suspect this weakness is a sign of things to come."
The Fed also said capacity utilization in the industrial sector dipped to 79.7 percent in November from 79.9 percent in October. Economists had expected capacity utilization to edge down to 79.8 percent.
Capacity utilization in the manufacturing and mining sectors fell to 78.9 percent and 88.2 percent, respectively, while capacity utilization in the utilities sector rose to 74.4 percent.
