Industrial production fell 0.4 percent in September, following a 0.8 percent gain in August. The September fall is the second drop in three months. Over the past year, industrial production is down 0.1 percent. Total capacity utilization decreased 0.4 percentage points to 77.5 percent as capacity posted a 0.2 percent gain for the month.
Manufacturing output, which accounts for about 75 percent of total industrial production, fell 0.5 percent after rising 0.6 percent in August. Manufacturing output is also down in two of the past three months, resulting in a 0.9 percent drop over the