Better late then never. U.S industrial production rose slightly more than expected in June as manufacturing output picked up speed, a welcome sign for an economy that appears to have slowed sharply in the second quarter. For the second quarter as a whole, industrial output rose 0.6 percent.

Manufacturing output increased by 0.3 percent last month, beating economists expectation of a 0.1 percent rise, after an upwardly revised 0.2 percent increase in May. Manufacturing was bolstered by a 1.3 percent increase in the production of motor vehicles and parts and a 1.5 percent rise in machinery. It means good days are not that far where more machine hours means more fluid consumption.