US industrial output surges in November amid cold snap

WASHINGTON: A cold snap last month drove a surge in gas and electricity use, which pushed total US industrial output up by double the expected amount, according to government data released Friday.

But manufacturing output was flat in the month compared to October, even as mining jumped on a big increase in oil and gas extraction, according to the Federal Reserve's monthly data.

The industrial production index rose 0.6 percent on a 3.3 percent jump in utilities output and a 1.7 percent gain in mining, which includes oil drilling, the report showed.

However, the slight increase originally reported for October was revised to show a 0.2 percent decline and September was revised down a tenth -- likely reflecting the impact of back-to-back hurricanes.

Taken together, that put the November rise closer to the 0.3 percent expected by economists.

Total output is 3.9 percent higher than November 2017, the report said, while installed capacity in use rose to 78.5 percent last month.

The Fed said "unseasonably cold weather supported demand for heating" in November and October, boosting natural gas distribution.

Meanwhile, mining activity is now more than 13 percent higher than it was a year earlier, while capacity in use in the sector rose to 94.1 percent, well above its long-run average of 87 percent.

But in the manufacturing sector, output was flat and capacity utilization edged down to 75.7 percent, which is 2.5 points below the long-run average, the Fed said.

While manufacturing of durable goods -- like motor vehicles and machinery -- rose slightly, the gains were offset by declines in nearly every other product category.

Economists have been warning that it is increasingly apparent manufacturing has peaked.

The biggest gain in manufacturing was the 2.4 percent jump in primary metals, while motor vehicles and parts rose 0.3 percent, after a sharp 3.1 percent decline in October.