US: Industrial production edged down 0.1% in May

"Industrial production edged down 0.1 percent in May after rising 0.9 percent in April," the Federal Reserve Board announced on Friday. Below are some key takeaways from the official press release.

• Manufacturing production fell 0.7 percent in May, largely because truck assemblies were disrupted by a major fire at a parts supplier.
• Excluding motor vehicles and parts, factory output moved down 0.2 percent.
• At 107.3 percent of its 2012 average, total industrial production was 3.5 percent higher in May than it was a year earlier.
• Capacity utilization for the industrial sector decreased 0.2 percentage point in May to 77.9 percent, a rate that is 1.9 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2017) average.