Industrial production falls by least in 6 months

The nation's industrial production fell in April by the smallest amount in six months, fresh evidence that the pace of the economy's decline is slowing.

Output by U.S. factories, mines and utilities fell by 0.5 percent last month, after revised declines of 1.7 percent in March and 1 percent in February, the Federal Reserve said Friday. Analysts expected a drop of 0.6 percent in April.

Still, the report shows that U.S. industry remains weak. Industrial production has fallen in 15 of the 17 months since the recession began in December 2007, and is down 16 percent since then, according to a May 15 article in The Washington Post.