US industrial output rose 0.7% in September, but utilities did much of the work. Do you trade the headline?

The Federal Reserve's G.17 release on 16 October showed total industrial production up 0.7% in September, after a 0.1% gain in August. Utilities rose 3.5%, manufacturing 0.3% and mining 0.2%. Motor vehicle and parts output fell 3.0%, and output grew at an annual rate of 2.8% over the third quarter (full report).

The weather plays a large part in utilities output, so a jump of that size can reverse the following month. Manufacturing, which is the part of the index traders watch most, rose only 0.3%.

We would like to hear how you use the release:

• Do you trade the headline industrial production number, or only the manufacturing line?
• Do you treat utilities output as noise and strip it out before you form a view?
• Did the 0.7% figure change your view of the dollar, or was it already in the price?
• How do you weigh this report against regional surveys released the same week?

For the New York survey released the same week, see the Empire State index report.

For context, the same release showed mining up 0.2% and utilities up 3.5%, so the headline leans on weather-sensitive output. A useful check is to read the manufacturing line on its own, and to see whether the semiconductor gain from the third quarter persists next month.

Please share your own approach and reasoning, not calls for others to copy. Posts that promise a direction or sell signals will be removed.