By Robert Hughes
Industrial production rose 1.4 percent in May following a record monthly decline of 12.5 percent in April (see top chart). The May gain is the largest rise since October 2017. Over the past year, industrial production is down 15.3 percent. Total capacity utilization increased 0.8 percentage points to 64.8 percent (see bottom chart).
Manufacturing output, which accounts for about 75 percent of total industrial production, rose 3.8 percent after sinking 15.5 in April. May had the largest monthly gains since December 1959 but still leaves manufacturing output 16.5 percent below year-ago levels