US industrial production rises slightly less than expected in November
Industrial production in the States rose slightly less quickly than expected last month, despite higher output of business equipment and materials.
Production rose by 0.2% month-on-month, according to the Federal Reserve, just as economists had anticipated.
However, revisions to prior months' data left the rate of operating capacity in use at 77.1%, above October's level of 77.0% and at its highest since mid-2015 but below the 77.2% expected by the consensus.
On the positive side of things, October's 0.9% jump in total production was marked up by the Fed to show an increase of 1.2% on the month.
In comparison to a year ago, total industrial production was ahead by 3.4%.
Versus October, and by major market groups, production of Final Products declined by 0.1%, as a 0.4% drop in output of consumer goods was more than offset by a 0.5% rise in that of Business Equipment.
Production of Non-Industrial Supplies was flat month-on-month, despite a 0.6% jump in Construction output.
Output of Materials on the other hand jumped by 0.6% following a sharp 1.4% increase during the previous month.
Focusing on the further increase in the rate of operating capacity in use, Andrew Hunter, US economist at Capital Economics, said: "This is a good reason to think that the outlook for business investment more generally remains positive."