US industrial output rose sharply in March, led by the manufacturing sector's best showing in two years, the Federal Reserve said today.
The Fed said overall production at US factories, mines and utilities increased by an unexpectedly large 0.7 per cent in March, the biggest gain since May 2000.
Factory output, the largest proportion of total output, gained 0.8 per cent, its strongest performance since a 0.9 per cent jump in March 2000.
The amount of capacity that firms are using also jumped in March, rising to 75.4 per cent from February's 74.9 per cent. The percentage of capacity utilised was the highest since September of last year, the Fed said.
The figures show US manufacturing, which had been the sector of the economy hardest hit by the recession that began in the spring of 2001, is recovering as businesses boost production to meet demand. The March gain in output was the third straight one.
Wall Street analysts had anticipated a weaker rebound in the March production data. Economists had expected output to grow by 0.6 per cent and capacity use to increase to 75.2 per cent.