U.S. industrial production rises in August, remains on strong growth trajectory

Industrial production in the U.S. rose in August. The latest data imply that production has continued to be on a strong growth trajectory in the past few months, noted Barclays in a research report. Headline industrial production registered a second straight sequential rise of 0.4 percent in the month, while production in the manufacturing category rose 0.2 percent sequentially after a 0.3 percent rise in July.

The headline reading came in slightly above consensus expectations of 0.3 percent, while July’s estimate was marked up 0.3 percentage points. The strong reading at the headline level was driven by rises in the utilities and mining categories, reflecting a solid rise in electricity generation and continued growth in energy exploration activity.

The slight deceleration of manufacturing production mainly showed a flat reading for the ex-motor vehicles and parts component, which more than countered a sharp increase in motor vehicles and parts.

The Fed’s estimate of capacity utilization in the manufacturing sector stood at 77.4 percent, still slightly below the average from 1972-2017 (78.3 percent).

At 16:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was slightly bearish at -56.6013. For more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex