Factory production rises in September

Factory output was up 0.4 percent on a 0.8 percent increase in mining, while utilities dropped 1.8 percent after an unseasonably hot August, the report showed. 

Capacity utilization in mining rose to 91.3 percent, a rate 3.9 percentage points above its long-run average. 

The output of consumer goods increased 0.1 percent in September while durable consumer goods rose 0.9 percent with gains in the production of automotive products and home electronics offsetting a decline in appliances, furniture and carpeting. 

The gain for nondurable goods was down 0.1 percent with increases in food and tobacco, while the indexes for its other three major categories — clothing, chemicals and paper — all fell. 

In the third quarter, the output of consumer goods increased at an annual rate of 3.7 percent after dropping 1.6 percent in the second quarter. 

Businesses continued investing, reflected in a 12.6 percent third-quarter increase in the output of business equipment, with production of transit equipment up sharply by 31.8 percent, boosted by civilian aircraft and trucks — the largest increase among the major components of business equipment for the quarter.

The index for construction supplies rose 0.2 percent in September, the fifth consecutive monthly increase. 

In the third quarter, the production of construction supplies advanced at an annual rate of 6.3 percent, its largest quarterly increase in more than a year. 

The production of business supplies was down 0.2 percent in September after declining 0.4 percent in August, but in the third quarter overall, output rose at an annual rate of 2.4 percent, the report showed. 

The factory operating rate moved up to 75.1 percent last month, a rate 10.7 percentage points above its trough in June 2009, but still 3.9 percentage points below its long-run average.