By Robert Hughes
Industrial production rose 5.4 percent in June following a rise of 1.4 percent in May. The back-to-back gains were not enough to overcome the back-to-back declines of 4.4 percent and 12.7 percent in March and April, respectively. For the second quarter, industrial production fell at a 42.6 percent annualized rate, the worst performance since World War II. Over the past year, industrial production is down 10.8 percent.
Manufacturing output, which accounts for about 75 percent of total industrial production, rose 7.2 percent, a monthly record, after gaining 3.8 in May (see top