US industrial production grows a bit more quickly than expected in March

US industrial production grew a bit more quickly than expected last month.

According to the US Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms, total output from industry increased at a month-on-month pace of 0.4% (consensus: 0.2%).

Manufacturing production on the other hand registered a fall of 0.5%, although the downside surprise was offset by net revisions amounting to four tenths of a percentage point.

Over the first quarter as a whole, factory output rose at an annualised rate of 0.3%, after a 3.1% drop in the fourth quarter.

Nonetheless, Kieran Clancy, senior US economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, believed that production was very likely set to see outright declines over the next couple of quarters.

"We were hoping that the boost from China’s re-opening would spark a recovery in U.S. manufacturing later this year, but any boost now looks likely to be offset by the drag on domestic capital spending as credit conditions continue to tighten in the wake of the recent bank failures."