U.S. Industrial Production Advances in September

U.S. industrial production jumped higher than expected in September, the third straight monthly gain, the Federal Reserve reported Thursday amid signs of a reviving manufacturing sector. Output at the nation's factories, mines and utilities rose 0.7% after an upwardly revised gain of 1.2% in August, the U.S. central bank said in a report. Most economists had forecast a 0.2% rise. The previous figure showed August production growing at a slower rate of 0.8%. For the third quarter as a whole, output advanced at an annual rate of 5.2%, 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. Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2009