WASHINGTON – U.S. industrial production slowed to a modest increase of 0.4% in August, far weaker than the strong bounce back recorded in previous months when factories were coming back to life.The slight uptick followed gains of 3.5% in July and 6.1% in June, when the industrial sector knocked down by the pandemic began to rebound.
For August, manufacturing rose 1% but mining, which includes oil and gas exploration, fell 2.5%, the Federal Reserve reported Tuesday.
Production at the nation's utilities was off 0.4%.It's the fourth consecutive monthly increase after COVID-19 sent production plunging in March and April.