Industrial production rose 0.6 percent in May for the fourth straight monthly increase, prodded by gains in automobile manufacturing, the Federal Reserve said Tuesday.
The May gain followed a downwardly revised April increase of 0.4 percent. Industrial production rose 0.5 percent in March and 0.5 percent in February.May industrial production was up 2.2 percent from May 1991.
Automobile production rose 5.9 percent in May after a 13.7 increase in April. May truck production increased 4.2 percent.
Household appliance production rose 6.6 percent in May.
The Federal Reserve report also said industries were running at 79 percent of their capacity in May, up from 78.7 percent in April.
In the major industry groups, production rose 0.7 percent in manufacturing and fell 0.3 percent in mining. Utilities production fell 0.4 percent.
In major market groups, production rose 0.6 percent in consumer goods, 1.2 percent in business equipment and 0.4 percent in construction supplies.