US: Industrial production increased 0.3% in December vs 0.2% expected

"Industrial production increased 0.3 percent in December after rising 0.4 percent in November," the Fed reported on Friday.

Key takeaways from the press release

• For the fourth quarter as a whole, total industrial production moved up at an annual rate of 3.8 percent.
• In December, manufacturing output increased 1.1 percent, its largest gain since February 2018.
• The output of mines rose 1.5 percent, but the index for utilities fell 6.3 percent, as warmer-than-usual temperatures lowered the demand for heating.
• Capacity utilization for the industrial sector rose 0.1 percentage point in December to 78.7 percent.