Industrial Production Rises for Fifth Straight Month
Industrial production rose by 0.3% in December, the fifth consecutive rise, after a 1% revised increase the month before, the Federal Reserve reported Jan. 17.
The figure matched the average forecast from economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.
Manufacturing, which makes up 75% of total production, increased 0.4% in December following a 0.6% rise the prior month.
Motor vehicle and parts manufacturing increased 1.6% in December after rising 3.6% in November, the Fed said.
“Production should continue to stay fairly strong; there’s been little to suggest otherwise” Gennadiy Goldberg, a U.S. strategist at TD Securities USA, Told Bloomberg.
“Autos will be a big component. What we see now in the consumer sector is recovering labor markets and a general increase in credit flows have helped consumers buy more autos,” Goldberg said.
Industrial output rose 6.8% in the final three months of 2013, the most since the second quarter of 2010.
