Industrial Production Falls 0.2%

U.S. industrial production dipped 0.2% in May, the Federal Reserve said Tuesday.

The decline in production at factories, mines and utilities followed a 0.7% decrease in April.

The downturn in contrast to the 0.1% increase forecast by economists, Bloomberg reported.

Manufacturing, which accounts for about four-fifths of industrial production, was unchanged from the previous month.
 
The share of industrial capacity in use fell to 79.4%, the lowest since September 2005, from 79.7% the previous month.
 
The factory sector is one of trucking’s largest and most important customers.