U.S. Industrial Production Rebounds Much More Than Expected In August

Industrial production in the U.S. rebounded by much more than anticipated in the month of August, the Federal Reserve revealed in a report released on Tuesday.

The Fed said industrial production climbed by 0.8 percent in August after slumping by a revised 0.9 percent in July.

Economists had expected industrial production to rise by 0.2 percent compared to the 0.6 percent decrease originally reported for the previous month.

The much bigger than expected rebound by industrial production came as manufacturing output increased by 0.9 percent in August after falling by 0.7 percent in July.

Motor vehicles and parts output led the recovery, spiking by nearly 10 percent in August after plunging by roughly 9 percent in July.

Mining output also climbed by 0.8 percent in August after dipping by 0.4 percent in July, while utilities output came in unchanged in August after tumbling by 3.0 percent in July.

The report also said capacity utilization in the industrial sector rose to 78.0 percent in August from a downwardly revised 77.4 percent in July.

Economists had expected capacity utilization to inch up to 77.9 percent from the 77.8 percent originally reported for the previous month.

Capacity utilization in the manufacturing and mining sectors increased to 77.2 percent and 90.0 percent, respectively, while capacity utilization in the utilities sector edged down to 70.5 percent.