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December industrial production drops 2 percent
WASHINGTON |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Industrial production dropped by a bigger-than-expected 2 percent in December, Federal Reserve data showed on Friday, capping a dismal year for manufacturing as the recession took hold.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 1 percent decline in December after a revised 1.3 percent drop in November, initially reported as a 0.6 percent dip.
For the fourth quarter as a whole, total industrial production fell 11.5 percent at an annual rate.
Compared with December 2007, industrial production was down 7.8 percent.
Capacity utilization fell to 73.6 percent, which was 7.4 percentage points below its average level from 1972 to 2007.
(Reporting by Emily Kaiser; Editing by Neil Stempleman)
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