Industrial Production Up 0.9%

Industrial production rose a stronger-than-expected 0.9% in January, the seventh consecutive monthly increase, as manufacturers continued leading the nation's economic recovery.

January's industrial production numbers rose in all three major categories: Manufacturing, mining, and energy utilities. It was the first such show of strength since August 2009, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday.

The January results outpaced the 0.6% growth that economists expected, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.

The across-the-board gains reflect more meaningful economic progress than December's increase, which the Fed revised up to 0.7% from the 0.6% reported earlier.

In December, manufacturing and mining activity fell, but weather-related gains in utility production offset that decline.

In January, manufacturing led the pack with a 1.0% increase, reversing a 0.1% loss in December. That followed a 0.1% decline in October and a 1.0% gain in November. It was the largest increase since manufacturing activity grew by 1.2% in August 2009.

Utilities and mining both were up 0.7% in January. Utilities saw a massive 6.3% increase in December due to increased energy use during an unusually cold winter.

Mining activity also reversed a modest 0.2% decline in December. It still has not returned to November's more robust 2.1% growth.

The frequent swings from positive to negative results are a typical pattern during slow economic recovery, economists say.

Meanwhile, the nation's industries were operating at 72.6% of capacity in January. It was a 0.7% increase from December, following increases of 0.4% in November and 0.6% in December.