Industrial production fell a sharp 1.3% in September, the Federal Reserve reported Monday.
Adding to the sense of weakness in the data, industrial output in August was revised to a fall of 0.1% versus the prior estimate of a 0.4% gain.
Capacity utilization fell to 75.2% in September, the lowest rate since April.
This is the biggest decline since February, when Winter Storm Uri wreaked havoc in Texas. Manufacturing had been a bright spot even though the sector is struggling with supply bottlenecks.
Some of the weakness was due to Hurricane Ida. The hurricane cut about 0.6 percentage points from the drop in total industrial production, the Fed said.
Output at manufacturers fell 0.7% in September, led by a 7.2% drop in production of motor vehicles and parts. Excluding the auto sector, manufacturing was down 0.3%.
Utilities output fell 3.6% in September. Mining output, which includes oil and natural gas, fell 2.3% due to lingering effects of Hurricane Ida. www.marketwatch.com/story/u-s-industrial-output-drops-sharply-in-september-11634563290?mod=mw_latestnews