The Federal Reserve reported on Friday the U.S. industrial production rose 1.6 percent m-o-m in December, following a revised 0.5 percent m-o-m increase in November (originally a 0.4 percent m-o-m gain).

Economists had forecast industrial production would increase 0.5 percent m-o-m in December.

According to the report, utilities output surged 6.2 percent m-o-m in December, as demand for heating rebounded after unseasonably warm weather in November. Meanwhile, mining production climbed 1.6 percent m-o-m and manufacturing output grew 0.9 percent m-o-m.

Capacity utilization for the industrial sector increased 1.1 percentage points m-o-m to 74.5 percent in December. That was 0.9 percentage point above economists’ forecast but 5.3 percentage points below its long-run (1972-2019) average.

In y-o-y terms, the industrial output dropped 3.6 percent in December, following a revised 5.4 percent plunge in the prior month (originally a 5.5 percent decline).

For the fourth quarter as a whole, total industrial production increased at an annual rate of 8.4 percent.