US industrial output fell for a fifth straight month in December, capping the worst year since 1982 with a 0.1 per cent decline, the US Federal Reserve said today.
Businesses ran at only 74.4 per cent of full capacity, down from 74.5 per cent in November and the lowest level of capacity utilisation since April 1983.
The readings were slightly weaker than Wall Street analysts had expected and underscored the fragile state of the hard-hit US manufacturing sector.
Production in November was revised downward to a 0.4 per cent drop from an initially reported 0.3 per cent decline.
For 2001 as a whole, output at US factories, mines and utilities fell 3.9 per cent, the worst showing since a 5.4 per cent decline in 1982. Output fell in 11 of the 12 months, and capacity use, at 76.8 per cent, was the weakest since 1983.
Still, the report contained a few hints of strength, mostly in the auto and high-tech sectors. Auto production rose for a second straight month to a 12.33 million unit annual rate.
High-tech industries, a category including computers, communications gear and semiconductors, saw output rise by 0.3 per cent, the second rise in three months.