MW: Gains in utilities and manufacturing lift industrial output in January
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Thanks in part to increased production of utilities and manufacturing, industrial production climbed 0.9% in January, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday.
This is the first increase since July and one of the biggest monthly gains of the expansion.
The strength of the report was tempered somewhat by a downward revision of 3 percentage point to December, resulting in a revised decline of 0.7%.
Utilities output in January jumped 5.4% on the back of cold weather through much of the country.
Manufacturing production rose 0.5% in January, the biggest gain since July.
Mining output, which includes oil and gas extraction, was unchanged after four months of steep declines.
Capacity utilization for the industrial sector increased 0.7 percentage point to 77.1%.
Economists polled by MarketWatch expected a 0.3% rise in industrial production and a utilization rate of 76.7%.
