Industrial production edges up 0.2% in September (by Steve Goldstein)
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Industrial production edged up a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in September, and August's output was downwardly revised to zero growth from an initially reported 0.2% gain, the Federal Reserve said Monday. Economists had anticipated a 0.1% gain for the month. September's gain was led by business equipment production, which rose 1% on the month and is up 10.3% from September 2010 levels, while the big drag came from utilities, where production dropped 1.8%. Utilization inched up to 77.4% from a downwardly revised 77.3% in August. For the third quarter, industrial production rose an annualized 5.1%.