U.S. industrial production climbs 0.9% in January
American industry expanded in January for the fourth straight month but has not returned to pre-pandemic levels
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Your support makes all the difference.American industry expanded for the fourth consecutive month in January, but it has yet to return to the level of activity that preceded the pandemic.
U.S. industrial production — which includes output factories, mines and utiliites — rose 0.9% last month on top of increases of 1.3% in December, 0.9% in November and 1.1% in October, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday. Still, industrial production was down 1.8% from January 2020, reflecting lingering economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic.
Manufacturing rose 1% even though auto production was held down by a shortage of semiconductors used in vehicles.
Mining jumped 2.3% on a burst of oil and gas drilling.
Utility output dropped 1.2% on declining production of natural gas.