Financial News: U.S. Industrial Production Unexpectedly Falls 0.5% In Marc

U.S. Industrial Production Unexpectedly Falls 0.5% In March

04/16/2026 - 10:53:00 (RTTNews)

(RTTNews) - Industrial production in the U.S. unexpectedly decreased in the month of March, according to a report released by the Federal Reserve on Thursday.

The Fed said industrial production fell by 0.5 percent in March after climbing by 0.7 percent in February. Economists had expected industrial production to inch up by 0.1 percent compared to the 0.2 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

The unexpected decrease in industrial production partly reflected significant pullbacks in utilities and mining output.

Utilities output tumbled by 2.3 percent in March after jumping by 1.8 percent in February, while mining output slumped by 1.2 percent in March after surging by 2.1 percent in February.

The Fed said mining output also edged down by 0.1 percent in March following an upwardly revised 0.4 percent increase in February.

"Industrial production may stumble in the near term as it faces higher input costs, disrupted supply chains, less accommodative financial conditions and dimmer sentiment," said Nationwide Financial Market Economist Oren Klachkin.

"However, demand appears to keep growing so we maintain a 'glass half full' view. Any losses should be recouped quickly," he added. "Continued AI investment and incentives from last year's fiscal package should partly alleviate challenges from the Iran conflict."

The report also said capacity utilization in the industrial sector fell to 75.7 percent in March from a downwardly revised 76.1 percent in February.

Economists had expected capacity utilization to come in unchanged compared to the 76.3 percent originally reported for the previous month.

Capacity utilization in the utilities sector slid to 70.3 percent, capacity utilization in the mining sector fell to 84.5 percent and capacity utilization in the manufacturing sector dipped to 75.3 percent.

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