Industrial Output Gains Most Since July

Industrial production rose more than expected in November, in another sign that economic activity in the U.S. is gathering momentum in the fourth quarter.
By Shanthi Bharatwaj ,

NEW YORK (

TheStreet

) --Industrial production rose more than expected in November, in another sign that economic activity in the U.S. is gathering momentum in the fourth quarter.

Output rose 0.4% in November, after declining 0.2% in October. That was higher than the 0.3% economists were expecting, according to

Briefing.com

.

The increase was led by higher production from utilities and durable goods, while mining output edged lower. Factory output excluding motor vehicles advanced 0.7%. Utility production grew 1.7%, as cold weather boosted demand for heating.

Capacity utilization inched ahead to 75.2%, its highest level since October 2008- but still 5.4 percentage points below its average from 1972 to 2009. Typically, utilization levels need to rise above 80 for inflationary pressures to pick up.

The

SPDR Industrials ETF

(XLI) - Get Report

was slightly higher in early market trading, up 0.03%. Large-cap industrials were trading firmer, with

Caterpillar

(CAT) - Get Report

up 1.2%,

3M

(MMM) - Get Report

rising 0.3% and

Deere

(DE) - Get Report

higher by 0.4%.

--Written by Shanthi Bharatwaj in New York

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