WASHINGTON – U.S. industrial output last month took its biggest dive in nearly 11 years and extended a string of monthly declines that was the longest since the Great Depression of the 1930s, the Federal Reserve said Friday.
The output for the nation's factories, mines and utilities fell 1.1 percent in October, the biggest decrease since it plunged 1.3 percent in November 1990, it said.
The latest decline, which followed a 1 percent drop in September, marked the 13th consecutive fall in output, the longest string of declines since the 15 months ended July 1932, it added.
The portion of production capacity put to use by industries in October slid to 74.8 percent, the lowest since June 1983, from 75.7 percent in September.
Wall Street economists surveyed by Reuters had expected October production to fall by 0.9 percent and for the capacity utilization rate to drop to 74.7 percent.
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