Factory Production Up 0.6%; Beats Expectations

U.S. industrial production rose to a better-than-expected 0.6 percent in May after dropping 0.3 percent a month earlier, according to the Federal Reserve. Wall Street expected a 0.5 percent gain. The S&P 500 Futures Index rose more than half a point in early trading Monday, apparently in response to the news. Factory output is now 4.3 percent higher than a year ago, while capacity utilization is running just 1 percent below its long-term average as measured from 1972 to 2013. Factory utilization in May increased 0.2 percent to 79.1 percent, Total factory production is currently running at 103.7 percent of 2007, the year prior to the economic crash. Consumer goods production gained 3.1 percent from a year ago, including consumer durables, which edged up 0.9 percent. The production of business equipment increased 0.8 percent in May, its fourth consecutive monthly increase and up 5.3 percent from a year earlier. Manufacturing production increased 0.6 percent in May after slipping 0.1 percent in April according to revised figures. Previously, factory output was reported to have declined 0.4 percent in April. Nondurable manufacturing output increased 0.4 percent in May after having moved down 0.2 percent in April; the index in May was 2.2 percent above its level of a year earlier.