A sharp rebound in automotive output in March spurred a third straight monthly gain in U.S. factory activity, perhaps signaling the worst of the production woes that have dogged the motor vehicle industry over the last year may have passed.
Overall industrial production increased 0.9 percent last month, keeping pace with February’s upwardly revised pace, the Federal Reserve said on Friday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast factory production accelerating 0.4 percent. Output jumped 5.5 percent from a year earlier.
Manufacturing, which accounts for 11.9 percent of the American economy, has benefited from a shift in spending to goods from services during the COVID-19 pandemic. But manufacturers have struggled to cope with the strong demand while labor markets have become extraordinarily tight and supply bottlenecks have persisted due to COVID-19 lockdowns in China and the war in Ukraine.
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