Partly reflecting a surge in utilities output, the Federal Reserve released a report on Wednesday showing industrial production in the U.S. increased by more than expected in the month of January.
The Fed said industrial production grew by 0.7 percent in January after rising by a downwardly revised 0.2 percent in December.
Economists had expected industrial production to climb by 0.4 percent, matching the increase originally reported for the previous month.
The bigger than expected increase by industrial production partly reflected a continued surge by utilities output, which shot up by 2.1 percent in January after jumping by 3.0 percent in December.
Manufacturing output also climbed by 0.6 percent in January after coming in unchanged in December, while mining output dipped by 0.2 percent in January after falling by 0.9 percent in December.
The Fed also said capacity utilization in the industrial sector rose to 76.2 percent in January from a downwardly revised 75.7 percent in December.
Economists had expected capacity utilization to increase to 76.5 percent from the 76.3 percent originally reported for the previous month.
Capacity utilization in the utilities sector jumped to 72.9 percent, while capacity utilization in the manufacturing sector rose to 75.6 percent and capacity utilization in the mining sector edged down to 84.4 percent.
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