Strong dollar, cheap oil put brake on factory output in April

Washington

FACTORY production stalled in April, as American manufacturers were dealt blows by a strong dollar and cheap oil.

The unchanged reading in manufacturing followed a 0.3 per cent March gain that was larger than previously estimated, a Federal Reserve report showed on Friday in Washington. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 21 economists called for a 0.2 per cent increase. Total industrial production declined for a fifth consecutive month amid mining and utilities cutbacks.