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Factory output growth slows
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April 16, 1999: 10:10 a.m. ET
March industrial production rise only 0.1%; utilization rate slips to 80.1%
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Industrial production growth slowed in March, climbing 0.1 percent after rising 0.3 percent a month earlier, according to a report released Friday by the U.S. Federal Reserve Board.
Production growth was below the 0.2 percent consensus of analysts surveyed by Reuters.
Capacity utilization slipped to 80.1 percent from 80.3 percent in February. The Reuters consensus was 80.2 percent.
The report signaled a slowdown in the growth of the industrial sector from the more robust gains of a year earlier. For the first quarter of 1999, the annualized rate of growth in production was 0.7 percent, compared with 2.2 percent in 1998.
Overall, production was 1.6 percent higher than it was in March 1998. But capacity utilization was 2.5 percentage points below the 82.6 percent rate of a year earlier.
An increase in mining output reported in February reversed itself in March, decreasing 0.7 percent. But that was offset by a 1.9 percent increase in utilities production, maintaining a trend that began last fall.
Manufacturing production was unchanged.
Treasury prices rebounded slightly after the report, which was released about 20 minutes before it was scheduled. The U.S. 30-year bond was down 10/32 to 95-22/32, yielding 5.54 percent; prior to the report release, the bond was down 12/32. 
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Federal Reserve
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