U.S. industrial production was unchanged in May after a gain of 0.4 percent in April, the Federal Reserve reported Friday.

The May showing in industrial production, an indicator of the output of mines, factories and utilities, came as output of utilities fell 1.3 percent after hiking 3.4 percent in April, because of unusually cold temperatures.

The decline in output in utilities reflected a return to milder weather after a colder-than-normal April.

Output in the manufacturing sector edged up 0.1 percent in May, following a 0.2-percent gain in April.

Mining output, including oil production, rose by 0.5 percent in May, rebounding from a drop of 0.6 percent in the previous month.

Overall industrial production for May was 1.6 percent above the level in the same month of 2006.

The rate of capacity utilization for total industry was down to 81.3 percent in May. It was 0.3 percentage points below its year-earlier level but 0.3 percentage points above its 1972-2006 average.

Source: Xinhua