US September industrial output down 0.6 pct, capacity utilization 81.9 pct

Output from US factories, mines and utilities fell by the largest amount in a year during September, declining by a larger-than-expected 0.6 pct, the Federal Reserve said Tuesday. That's the largest decline since September 2005. Factories were using 81.9 pct of their capacity, the lowest level since May and slightly lower than August's upwardly revised 82.5 pct. Economists had expected a 0.1 pct decline in output and 82.2 capacity utilization for September. The Federal Reserve keeps a close watch on the operating rate to see if it is approaching levels where bottlenecks could develop and threaten to boost inflationary pressures. Industrial production has risen 5.6 pct over the past year, while capacity utilization has risen 2.8 percentage points in the past 12 months. Capacity utilization is 0.9 percentage points above the average of the past 30 years. Manufacturing production fell 0.3 pct in September, while mining output rose 0.7 pct and utility output fell 4.4 pct in the month.