US industrial production hit bottom in May

Industrial production in the States rose by slightly less than expected last month but the underlying details of the data pointed to the start of a recovery, economists said.

According to the Department of Commerce, total US industrial production increased at a 1.4% month-on-month pace in May.

That fell short of forecasts for a rise of 3.0% following drops of 4.6% and 12.5% in March and April, respectively.

Factory output however grew by 3.8% (consensus: 5.3%), offset by a 6.8% fall in Mining and 2.3% decline in Utilities.

Nevertheless, the latter two components would rebound over the next two months, Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macroeconomics said.

Pacing gains in manufacturing, auto production ramped-up 121%, albeit from a "very depressed" base and remained roughly 64% beneath February levels, he added.

Here too, production was expected to see a big increase in June.

Outside of automobiles, manufacturing production was only 1.9% higher in May, undoing only a little of the 14.8% slump evident during the previous two months.

"Still, this report is yet more evidence that the economy hit bottom in April and began to recover in May."