US industrial production fell for second month in a row

Official data released in the US today showed industrial production fell for the second month in a row due to sharp decline in mining activity.

March industrial production fell -0.6% compared to an expected drop of 0.1%. February figure was revised down slightly to -0.6% from -0.5%. Mining activity fell 2.9% while Utilities declined 1.2%. Manufacturing also declined 0.3% with durables down 0.4%. Capacity utilization fell 0.5% in March to 74.8%, from 75.3% in Feb.