By Robert Hughes
Industrial production increased 0.6 percent in August, following a 0.1 percent drop in July. Over the past year, industrial production is up 0.4 percent (see top chart). The gain helped push capacity utilization up by 0.2 percentage points to 78.1 percent as capacity posted a 0.2 percent gain for the month.
The gain in industrial production was supported by increases in all three major sectors: manufacturing, mining, and utilities (see top chart). Manufacturing-sector output, which accounts for about 75 percent of total industrial production, rose 0.5 percent for the latest month, mining