US industrial production dips amid drag from manufacturing

Industrial production growth in the US fell short of forecasts last month due to the drag from factory and mining activity.

According to the Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms, total industrial production slipped at a month-on-month pace of 0.2% in November.

That compared to economists' forecasts for a rise of 0.2%.

Manufacturing sector output fell at a month-on-month pace of 0.6%, alongside a 0.7% drop in Mining, although Utilities' production increased by 3.6%.

All major market groups registered drops with production of business equipment off by a hefty 0.8% on the month.

Exceptions to the declines included consumer energy products, energy materials and defence and space equipment, Commerce said.

Production in both durable and nondurable manufacturing fell by 0.6%.

Total industry capacity utilisation slipped by two tenths of a percentage point from the month before to 79.7% (consensus: 79.8%).