U.S. Economy: Industrial Production Falls for 11th Month in Row
By Carlos Torres, Vincent Del Giudice, and Monee Fields-White
Washington, Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Industrial production fell in August for an 11th straight month, suggesting a fragile economy that may weaken more as the effects of the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history take a toll on business.
The 0.8 percent drop in the Federal Reserve's measure of work performed at factories, mines and utilities followed a 0.1 percent decline a month earlier. Until August, production hadn't fallen for so many months in a row since February-December 1960.
The attacks Tuesday have already interrupted work at Ford Motor Co. and may lead to reduced consumer spending, suggesting factories will be hard pressed to pull out of their slump. Consumer optimism fell to an 8 1/2-year low this month, sapped by rising unemployment, according to a survey taken before the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York and damage to the Pentagon in Washington.
``For all the talk of a rebound in production and manufacturing, the evidence is getting worse,'' said Andrew Pyle, senior economist at Scotia Capital in Toronto. Yields on Treasury securities fell on expectations that Fed policy makers will cut the overnight bank lending rate for an eighth time this year to keep the economy out of recession.
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