By Ovunc Kutlu
ISTANBUL (AA) - US industrial production fell 0.7% in December, marking the steepest decline since September 2021, according to Federal Reserve data released Wednesday.
The expectation for the figure was to show a decline of 0.1%, while industrial output contracted 0.6% in November.
Industrial production decreased 1.7% at an annual rate in the fourth quarter, the Fed noted.
Manufacturing output dropped 1.3%, posting its largest decline since February 2021, while it moved down 2.5% at an annual rate in the fourth quarter.
While the figure was worse than estimates of a 0.3% contraction, it followed a decline of 1.1% in November.
Capacity utilization, which indicates overall growth and demand in the economy, fell 0.6 percentage points in December to 78.8%.
That also came below projections of 79.6%, after standing at 79.4% in November.