U.S. April industrial production fell 0.7 pct

WASHINGTON, May 15 (Reuters) - U.S. industrial production tumbled a bigger-than-expected 0.7 percent in April on the biggest drop in the manufacturing sector in nearly three years, the Federal Reserve said on Thursday.

Economists polled by Reuters were expecting output at the nation's factories, utilities and mines to fall 0.3 percent.

Manufacturing output fell 0.8 percent, the biggest decline since a 1.0 percent decrease in September 2005.

Total industry capacity use stood at 79.7 percent of capacity, the lowest since September of 2005. Economists were expecting capacity utilization of 80.1 percent.

(Reporting By Joanne Morrison; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)