AFP,WASHINGTON:  Manufacturing output posted its sixth straight increase in February, but unseasonably warm weather again dragged down utilities, keeping total industrial production flat in the month, the Federal Reserve reported Friday. Multiple manufactured product lines saw increases of one per cent and higher including machinery, plastic, paper and metal products, pushing total manufacturing output up 0.5 per cent compared to January, the same increase as the prior month.
Motor vehicles and parts were just shy of that mark with an increase of 0.8 per cent in the month, reversing the decline of the same amount in January.
Manufacturing output—a key focus of President Donald Trump’s administration—was 1.2 per cent higher than a year ago. The sector represents more than 70 per cent of the overall index. Meanwhile, mining output increased 2.7 percent, and was 1.8 per cent higher than February 2016.
“In short, the details were much stronger than the utilities-depressed headline,” Jim O’Sullivan, chief US economist at High Frequency Economics, said in a research note.