Industrial Production Increases, Albeit Slower

From Bloomberg:

Production in the U.S. cooled in August as automakers scaled back following a surge in output the prior month.

Industrial production increased 0.2 percent last month after rising 0.6 percent in July, figures from the Federal Reserve showed today. Factory output climbed 0.5 percent excluding autos, the most since May.

Ford Motor Co. is among companies not looking to boost U.S. output on concern a lack of jobs will hold back consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the world’s largest economy. Orders from overseas and the need for some companies to replace outdated equipment are supporting other manufacturers including Caterpillar Inc.

“Most of the signs are still pointing to growth in the factory sector, although it’s going to be more modest than the explosion we saw earlier in the year,” Omair Sharif, a senior economist at RBS Securities Inc. in Greenwich, Connecticut, said before the report. “You’ll see manufacturing grow more at a pace that’s in line with the rest of the economy.”

I'll have more on this tomorrow