Industrial Production's current situation

Industrial production in August increased a hefty 0.8 percent, following a revised 1.0 percent boost in July. For the latest month, the manufacturing component rose 0.6 percent after surging 1.4 percent in July. A big boost came from restocking auto inventories as the motor vehicle component jumped a monthly 5.5 percent in August after ramping up an enormous 20.1 percent the month before. But the really good news is that overall production excluding motor vehicles was still up a healthy 0.6 percent for August—for manufacturing ex-autos was up 0.4 percent. Overall capacity utilization in August improved to 69.6 percent in August from 69.0 percent the month before. Looking ahead, industrial production could decline in September as auto assemblies are likely to ease. Also, production hours in manufacturing fell 0.5 percent for the month. Nonetheless, the consensus anticipates a modest gain for industrial production.