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WASHINGTON: US industrial production jumped in September for a third straight month, the Federal Reserve reported on Thursday in a further sign of a reviving manufacturing sector.
Output at the nation's factories, mines and utilities rose 0.7 percent after an upwardly revised gain of 1.2 percent in August, the US central bank said in a report.
It marked the first period of sustained increase since 2007, when the United States plunged into recession.
Most economists had forecast a 0.2 percent rise in September.
For the third quarter as a whole, output advanced at an annual rate of 5.2 percent, the first quarterly gain since the first quarter of 2008 and the largest gain since the first quarter of 2005, the Fed said.
The American industrial sector is leading the recovery from recession as consumer spending and other areas of the economy lagged, analysts say.
The United States has been reeling from a recession since December 2007 and most economists expect the economy to expand for the first time in a year in the third quarter.
Based on the Fed data on Friday, manufacturing output increased 0.9 percent in September fuelled by rising motor vehicle and parts production.
"The September industrial production report provides confirmation of a solid rebound in factory output starting in the third quarter," said Aaron Smith, a senior economist for Moody's Economy.com.
"Motor vehicle output posted very large gains between July and September, but, encouragingly, manufacturing excluding autos and parts also rose at the quickest pace in more than three years," he said.
Business equipment production rose just 0.1 percent in September with upward revisions to prior months. For the third quarter, business equipment output rose 3.5 percent at an annual rate, ending a streak of four consecutive double-digit declines.
Utility output fell 0.7 percent in September, with output of electricity and natural gas falling last month. Mining output moved up 0.8 percent, and upward revisions to prior months signalled that the sector was beginning to recover in response to higher energy prices.
Joel Naroff at Naroff Economic Advisors said companies in the United States were finally starting to rebuild inventories, leading to further improvement in the manufacturing sector.
"Production gains are becoming more widespread pointing to a broadening of the recovery," he said. - AFP/de
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