Overall industrial production increased 1.1% for November, according to a Federal Reserve report (link opens as PDF) released today.
After edging up a revised 0.1% for October, analysts were pleasantly surprised by this latest report, having expected a smaller 0.6% increase.
By major market groups, consumer goods and materials made the most improvement, increasing 1.5% and 1.4%, respectively. Business equipment was the only group to register a decrease in production, down 0.5%.
Breaking production down by industries, utilities made a major 3.9% comeback after tapering off 0.3% in October, due to colder-than-average temperatures in the most recent month measured. Mining production increased 1.7%, while manufacturing managed 0.6%, slightly better than analysts' 0.5% prediction. Production of motor vehicles and parts increased 3.4%, rebounding from a 1.3% decline in October. Factories also stepped up production of home electronics and chemical products.
Over the last year, total industrial production is up 3.2%.
Capacity utilization added on another 0.9 percentage points from October to reach 79%, 0.6 points higher than analyst expectations. Utilities and manufacturing capacity utilizations remain below their 40-year averages, while mining is slightly above average.
Source: Federal Reserve.
-- Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.
