The article wasn't clear enough for anyone to know what exactly they meant by "production", so you were able to say that it meant anything from home sales to payroll numbers. Politics is fun that way.
Those of us trying to earn a living in the business community can't let a bunch of politically motivated sales people tell us how to think. What we call "industrial production" is something the fed adds up and makes available to all at this site. Give it a try, the site's pretty user friendly. I typed in 2000 into the year, clicked on "go" and got this:
Or you can see lots of other Fed stuff at this site.