US Industrial Production Unexpectedly Falls
2026-04-16 13:21
By
Agna Gabriel
1 min. read
Industrial production in the United States dropped 0.5% month-over-month in March 2026, missing market expectations for a 0.1% gain and after moving up 0.7% in February.
It marks the biggest fall in industrial activity since September 2024.
Manufacturing output, which makes up about 78% of total industrial production, decreased 0.1% after an upwardly revised 0.4% increase in February and also missing forecast of a 0.1% gain.
Mining output fell 1.2% in March.
The index for utilities contracted 2.3%, with reductions in the output of both electric and natural gas utilities.
Capacity utilization receded to 75.7 percent, a rate that is 3.7 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2025) average.