Factory Output Increased 0.4 Percent In July

Washington, DC (AHN) - Auto manufacturers help push July factory output up by 0.4 percent, the biggest jump in nearly a year, the government reported Friday.

For the second month in a row, auto manufacturing rose 3.6 percent last month after a 4.8 percent jump in June. Analysts said the increase came as carmakers start creating products for 2009.

If car manufacturing were excluded, factory outputs for July would have risen just 0.2 percent, according to the Federal Reserve.

Along with cars, production for transit and defense helped boost business production 0.8 percent in July. However, production of information-processing equipment fell 0.2 percent during the month.

In other news, the Fed said capacity rose to 79 percent in July, up a tenth of a percent. Industrial production, which includes factories, mines and utilities, rose 1.9 percent, with a 0.9 percent increase in mines. The government also revised down to 0.4 percent its estimate of industrial production for June.

Industrial production plays a role in whether economists deem the economy in a recession.