Industrial Production Jumps 1% In September

Industrial production climbed 1% in September, thanks to a big jump in utilities output during the month. The gain, stronger than the 0.4% gain seen in a MarketWatch-compiled economist forecast, came after a 3.9% jump for utilities, a 1.8% gain for mining and a 0.5% gain for manufacturing output. It took the third quarter gain to an annual rate of 3.2%. Capacity utilization rose to 79.3% in September from 78.7% in August. August's industrial production was revised to a 0.2% drop from an initially reported 0.1% decline.