US: Industrial production was unchanged in May following a large increase in April

Industrial production was unchanged in May following a large increase in April and smaller increases in February and March, announced the Federal Reserve Board on Thursday.

Key highlights:

• Manufacturing output declined 0.4 percent in May; the index is little changed, on net, since February.
• The indexes for mining and utilities posted gains of 1.6 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively, in May. At 105.0 percent of its 2012 average, total industrial production in May was 2.2 percent above its year-earlier level.
• Capacity utilization for the industrial sector edged down 0.1 percentage point in May to 76.6 percent, a rate that is 3.3 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2016) average.