US industrial production falls as strikes, hurricanes hit output

Industrial production in the US retreated in September, falling more than expected, according to data from the Federal Reserve on Thursday.

Industrial production fell by 0.3% during the month after a 0.3% gain in August. The consensus estimate was for a fall of just 0.2%.

The Fed said that strikes at a "major producer of civilian aircraft" – ie Boeing – had a 0.3% negative impact on overall production, as the production of aerospace equipment sank 8.3%.

Meanwhile hurricanes Francine and Helene had a further 0.3% negative impact.

Breaking the data down into major industry groups, manufacturing output declined 0.4% in September while the index for mining fell 0.6%, but the utilities index increased 0.6% – growing for the first time in three months.

For the third quarter as a whole, US industrial production was 0.6% lower than last year.