17.01.201707:20:00UTC+00U.s. Industrial Production Likely to have recovered in December

The U.S. industrial production is expected to have rebounded in December. In the prior month, the industrial output growth dropped 0.4 percent largely because of a 4.7 percent drop in electricity output that more than countered an increase of 1.1 percent in mining output and a small 0.1 percent decline in manufacturing activity.
However, in December, electricity production might have increased slightly more than 5 percent, given that the Edison electricity index recorded a 6.4 percent monthly advance, noted Societe Generale in a research report.
In the meantime, mining activity might have grown by more than 1 percent for a third consecutive month given the continued increase in rig counts. Manufacturing output might have increased by around 0.4 percent in December given that hours worked in the sector rose 0.5 percent in the month and factory payrolls rose 0.14 percent.
�The combined 1.1% rise in total industrial production that we forecast may have pushed capacity utilization up to 75.7%, matching the highest reading since October 2015�, added Societe Generale.