US industrial production rises 0.5% in February

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - US industrial production increased 0.5% in February, in line with market estimates, the Federal Reserve said Thursday.

While it followed a 1.4% gain in January, industrial output showed a 7.5% increase year-on-year.

Manufacturing output and mining production rose 1.2% and 0.1%, respectively, but the index for utilities declined 2.7%, the Fed said in a statement.

Manufacturing was expected to rise 0.6% in February after increasing 0.1% during the previous month.

Capacity utilization for the industrial sector increased 0.3 percentage points to 77.6% in February from the revised figure of 77.3% in January. The market estimate was 77.8%.