(1888PressRelease)
November 20, 2008 - London, However, the output fell 4.1 percent compared to the same period last year. The output for the month of September was revised to negative 3.7 beating analysts expectation of around 3 percent fall.
The October growth largely came from the refineries and oil rights in the Gulf of Mexico which restarted production after they were laid low by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. These energy and chemical units added nearly 2 percent to the industrial output in October.
Production of consumer goods rose by 1.3 percent, while that of non-durable consumer goods rose 2.2 percent. In comparison, plunging sales of automobiles and spare parts led to a drop in durable-goods production by 2.1 percent. Business equipment production is reported to have fallen 2.2 percent due to scale-back of capex plans. The growth in industrial and other equipment category was down 1.7 percent.
In spite of sharp cutbacks in corporate spending, computer equipment sales fell a mere 0.2 percent though they were down 0.9 percent in September. Mining put in a stellar show rebounding 6.1 percent in October, after falling 8.5 percent in September. Utility output slowed to 0.4 percent gain after last month’s gain of 2.4 percent.
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