WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. manufacturing output surged in December likely as production at Boeing (NYSE:) picked up following the end of a crippling strike by factory workers at the aerospace giant.
Factory output increased 0.6% last month after an upwardly revised 0.4% rebound in November, the Federal Reserve said on Friday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast production rising 0.2% after a previously reported 0.2% gain.
Production at factories was unchanged on a year-on-year basis in December. It fell at a 1.2% annualized rate in the fourth quarter after contracting at a 0.8% pace in the July-September quarter. Manufacturing, which accounts for 10.3% of the economy, has largely stabilized in recent months after the U.S. central bank started cutting interest rates.
The Institute for Supply Management’s Purchasing Managers Index rose to a nine-month high in December. But broad tariffs on imported goods planned by President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration could raise the costs of raw materials and u