Industrial Output Stays Level: Industrial output by...

Industrial Output Stays Level: Industrial output by the nation’s mines, factories and utilities was flat in July because of an unexpected drop in auto production, the Federal Reserve Board said. Car makers had been pushing up assembly rates in recent months to build stocks in the face of possible fall work stoppages, but production fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 10.5 million units in July from 11.3 million in June. Total industrial production rose 0.6% in May and 0.4% in June before flattening out in July. In a separate report, the Commerce Department said business inventories dropped by 0.4% in June after a 0.5% increase in May while sales went up by a fairly solid 1% in each month. Analysts said the report suggested that stocks of unsold goods were smaller than the government thought when it reported inventories had swollen between April and June, while the gross national product was growing at only a 1.2% annual rate.