NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Production from the nation's factories, mines and utilities edged up in August, the Federal Reserve said Monday.
The report showed industrial production rose 0.1 percent in August after rising an upwardly revised 0.7 percent in July. Economists, on average, expected production to rise 0.2 percent, according to a Reuters poll.
Capacity utilization, the percentage of production capacity factories used in the month, was 74.6 percent, matching July's utilization rate and the expectations of economists polled by Reuters.
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The report had little impact on U.S. stock prices, which posted small gains in early trading. Treasury bond prices were mostly lower.
After suffering from a prolonged downturn, manufacturing activity has improved in recent months. In a separate release Monday, the New York Fed said its measure of New York manufacturing conditions rose in September, echoing recent positive results in surveys from the nation's purchasing managers and the Philadelphia and Chicago Fed banks.
But the increased activity has yet to translate into more hiring -- though the Institute for Supply Management's index of national factory activity rose to the highest level in eight months in August, the pace of layoffs increased.
In a slump that began in July 2000, more than 2.7 million manufacturing jobs have been lost, and some economists believe many of those jobs will never return.
Some economists, however, hope higher levels of output will eventually force businesses -- who have so far been able to milk more work out of fewer workers -- to hire again. The latest New York Fed survey, at least, had one hopeful sign in that regard: its index of hours worked jumped to its highest level since the survey began in July 2001.
On the other hand, the index of total employment in New York factories fell in September after being flat in August.
In the Fed's report on national industrial production, much of the gain in the headline index was due to a 1.9-percent jump in the output of utilities. Mining output rose 0.2 percent.
But manufacturing output fell 0.1 percent in August after rising for three straight months.
Production of durable goods -- items meant to last three years or more -- fell 0.2 percent, reflecting a 2.6-percent decline in the output of motor vehicles and parts. The Fed said the August power outage in the Northeastern United States, along with auto model changeovers, contributed to the drop in auto production.
Production of business equipment was strong in the month, rising 0.5 percent, and consumer non-durables production rose 0.2 percent.
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