Industrial Output Rises by 0.8% in November, Biggest Gain Since August

The recovery in the U.S. manufacturing sector is continuing: The output of U.S. factories, mines and utilities rose 0.8% in November -- the biggest industrial output gain in three months -- the U.S. Federal Reserve announced Tuesday. Further, it was a broad-based gain, with all groups and sectors except for utilities registering increases after a generally disappointing October.

Meanwhile, the factory utilization rate, also known as capacity utilization, rose to 71.3% in November from a revised 70.6% in both October and September. The capacity utilization rate is 9.6 percentage points below its average for 1972-2008, the Fed said; still lower than where utilization should be, but nevertheless better than the level recorded in October.