Manufacturing output increased 0.7 percent in January, the Federal Reserve announced today, adding that it had revised December's number sharply upward to 1.5 percent.
The AP reports that December number was the biggest gain since Dec. 2006. The AP adds:
"Overall industrial production, which includes output by mines and utilities as well as factories, was unchanged in January.
"Utility output fell 2.5 percent, the second straight sharp decline due to an unseasonably warm winter that has cut demand for heating.
"Mining production also declined. Industrial production was revised up in December to 1 percent, the most in a year."
The Federal Reserve noted that the manufacturing output was boosted by a 5.8 percent growth in the production of automotive products.
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