/ Source: The Associated Press
Industrial production fell for the fifth straight month in March as companies cut output in order to clear stockpiles of goods.
The Federal Reserve reports that production at the nation's factories, mines and utilities dropped a seasonally adjusted 1.5 percent, matching February's decline and worse than the 1 percent drop analysts expected.
Factories and mines are increasingly idle, as the total industrial capacity utilization rate fell to 69.3 percent from 70.3 percent, the lowest on records dating to 1967.
