US Industril Production: The decline was larger than expected – BMO

The economic impact of the coronavirus in the US has become abundantly clear in the past couple of weeks and industrial production is not an exception, Jennifer Lee from the Royal Bank of Montreal reports.

Key quotes

“The 5.4% decline in US industrial production was larger than expected, with no sectors/industries spared.”

“Manufacturing, which accounts for 75% of total output, fell a record 6.3%, which was 2x what was expected.”

“Mining output, which accounts for 15% of output, fell for the second month in a row, down 2.0%, also worse than expected.”

“Utilities, the pesky wildcard, was down for the 3rd time in the past four months. The component accounts for just over 10% of overall production, and it fell 3.9% in March.”

“With quieter factories, the capacity utilization rate dropped a record 4.3 ppts to a decade-low 72.7%.”