U.S. industrial production climbs 0.9% in January

American industry expanded in January for the fourth straight month but has not returned to pre-pandemic levels

American industry expanded for the fourth consecutive month in January, but it has yet to return to the level of activity that preceded the pandemic.

U.S. industrial production — which includes output factories, mines and utiliites — rose 0.9% last month on top of increases of 1.3% in December, 0.9% in November and 1.1% in October, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday. Still, industrial production was down 1.8% from January 2020, reflecting lingering economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic.

Manufacturing rose 1% even though auto production was held down by a shortage of semiconductors used in vehicles.

Mining jumped 2.3% on a burst of oil and gas drilling.

Utility output dropped 1.2% on declining production of natural gas.