Washington, Feb. 17--Industrial production climbed faster than expected in January as auto makers once again revved up assembly lines.
Industrial output at U.S. factories, mines and utilities rose 0.8% last month, the Federal Reserve reported Tuesday. That followed a revised reading for December that showed activity was flat. Capacity use rose to 76.2% from 75.6%.
Economists had expected a 0.7% rise in output and for capacity use to clock in at 76.2%, according to a survey by Dow Jones Newswires.
"The industrial sectors of the economy are improving as surging demand for productivity-enhancing high-technology products is boosting the manufacturing sector," wrote Steven Wood, chief economist at Insight Economics, in a note to clients. He added that capital spending "appears to be on track for another solid gain in the first quarter."
For all of 2003, industrial activity rose 0.2%, a big improvement from the 0.6% decline registered in 2002. Last year marked the first year that industrial production was in positive territory since 2000, when the economy was still enjoying record economic expansion.
Among the components, manufacturing output rose 0.3% in January, while capacity use in the sector climbed to 74.6%.
Auto production rose again in January. Motor-vehicles and parts production rose 0.9%, and production of consumer automotive products went up 0.8%. Excluding autos, manufacturing production increased 0.3% last month. This followed a 0.1% advance the previous month.
Utility output rose a sharp 5.2%, reflecting the effects of severely cold weather across most of the country, following a 1.3% drop in December.
Output in mining inched up 0.1%, after a 0.2% rise.
For consumer durable goods, production rose 0.6%, while output of consumer nondurable goods climbed 0.8%.
Business-equipment production advanced 0.5%, after a flat performance in December. The technology industry saw output rise 2.6%, double December's rate.
Semiconductor production grew 3.2%, while output of computers and office equipment rose 2%. And production of communications equipment in January rose 1.9%, more than reversing December's decline.
