us industrial production stalled in february with the key manufacturing sector eking out a small gain adding to further evidence of a slowdown in factory activity as demand weakens industrial productionwhich comprises manufacturing mining and utility outputwas unchanged in february on month according to data from the federal reserve published friday this stabilization came after a 03 monthly gain in january which was upwardly revised from the broad stagnation previously estimated februarys reading matches economists expectations in a poll by the wall street journal industrial production was 02 below the same period a year earlier the fed said manufacturing outputthe largest component of industrial productionincreased 01 on month slowing sharply from the 13 advance the prior month the us manufacturing sector has been losing steam as higher interest rates and recession fears weigh on investment still recent developments arent all negative for the sector economists at wells fargo said ahead of the data release the global downturn now looks to be shallower than feared they said between that and a falling dollar there are some tailwinds that imply a better outlook for areas of manufacturing like aircraft and heavy equipment than just a few months ago utilities output edged up by 05 in february recovering somewhat from januarys plunge with increases for both electric and natural gas utilities as temperatures remained high for the time of the year but eased somewhat mining output fell 06 the fed said capacity utilization which reflects how much industries are producing compared with what they could potentially produce was unchanged at 78