by Calculated Risk on 10/16/2009 09:15:00 AM

From MarketWatch: U.S. Sept. industrial production up 0.7%

U.S. industrial production increased at an annual rate of 5.2% in the third quarter ... Capacity utilization rose to 70.5% in September from a revised 69.9% in August.

Auto production was up significantly.

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

This graph shows Capacity Utilization. This series has increased for three straight months, and is up from the record low set in June (the series starts in 1967). Capacity Utilization had decreased in 17 of the previous 18 months.

Note: y-axis doesn't start at zero to better show the change.

An increase in capacity utilization is usually an indicator that the official recession is over.