Washington: US industrial production grew 0.6 percent in May after a weak April, led by strong mining growth, central bank data released Monday showed.
The Federal Reserve said its output index for May rose to 103.7, from 103.0 in April. The Fed downwardly revised the month-over-month change in April to a decline of 0.3 percent, from the prior estimate of growth of 0.6 percent.
Total output in May slightly beat analysts` expectations of a 0.5 percent rise.
Mining output, which has been growing all year, increased by 1.3 percent, the third straight month of gains above 1.0 percent.
Manufacturing production rose for the third time in four months, by 0.6 percent, following a 0.1 percent dip in April.
Utilities output fell 0.8 percent, the fourth month in a row of declines.
Compared with a year ago, total industrial production was up 4.3 percent in May.
"The winter hit is now history, and output is rising strongly," said Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics, referring to severe winter weather that gripped large parts of the country in the first part of the year, hampering economic activity.
"This is a solid report, especially when the upward revisions to April manufacturing -- to -0.1 percent from -0.4 percent -- are taken into account," he said.
Capacity utilization rose 0.2 percentage point to a rate of 79.1 percent in May, a pace that is 1.0 percentage point below its long-run average but still the second-highest rate in six years, noted Jennifer Lee of BMO Capital Markets.
