Area Development
Industrial production dropped 0.2 percent in September, according to the Federal Reserve, following 0.2 percent growth in August. Indexes for manufacturing and manufacturing excluding motor vehicles and parts declined 0.2 percent in September.

Gainers included mine production, which increased 0.7 percent. Overall in the third quarter, total industrial production rose at an annual rate of 4.8 percent. It increased about 7 percent during the first and second quarters of this year.

However, the index for manufacturing recorded a steep decline in the third quarter. Factory output, which climbed at an annual rate of 9.1 percent in the second quarter only gained 3.6 percent in the third quarter. And the capacity utilization rate dropped to 74.7 percent, 5.9 percentage points below its average from 1979 to 2009. The total index for September was recorded at 93.2 percent of its 2007 average.