Production by US industry in February posted its biggest bounce since June 2000, the US Federal Reserve said to in a report that added to signs the US economy was in recovery.
The Fed said output at the nation's factories, mines and utilities rose 0.4 per cent. Put together with January's revised 0.2 per cent increase, February marked the first time since August and September of 2000 where there were two straight months of increases in production.
The manufacturing sector alone, the largest component in the report, saw a production gain of 0.3 per cent, the same as the revised January figure for the sector.
The report also showed an increase in the amount of productive capacity in use at US firms. The capacity use rate in February was 74.8 per cent, up from a revised 74.5 per cent in January and the highest since October 2001.
Analysts had expected a slightly softer report. The average forecast in a survey of analysts called for a 0.3 per cent gain in output while capacity use was expected to rise to only 74.3 per cent.