Industrial Production Rises 0.8%

Industrial production rose 0.8% in December, the Federal Reserve said Friday.

The increase followed a revised 0.3% in November. December’s gain topped economists’ forecasts a 0.5% gain, Bloomberg reported.

Manufacturing climbed 0.4% and utility output rose 4.3% as snowstorms swept parts of the nation, Bloomberg said.

The share of industrial capacity in use rose to 76%, the highest since October 2008, the Fed said.

Manufacturing accounts for about an eighth of the U.S. economy and the factory sector is one of trucking’s largest and most important customers.