industrial production in the us rose in february driven by higher activity in the manufacturing sector which recovered from worker absenteeism as the covid19 omicron wave receded over the month industrial productionwhich includes factory mining and utility outputrose at a seasonally adjusted 05 in february compared with the previous month according to data from the federal reserve released thursday the increase is in line with economists expectations in a poll by the wall street journal industrial output rose by 14 in january as cold temperatures throughout the month prompted a surge in utility output in february gains were led by the manufacturing sector which is the biggest component of industrial production factory activity rose 12 on month after having been little changed in each of the previous two months the fed said most major industry groups posted gains however motor vehicle and parts production fell 35 on month signaling that the sector continued to be restrained by a shortage of electronic components supplychain bottlenecks have shown signs of improvement recently as demand has cooled somewhat but the war in ukraine and covid19 lockdowns in china could deal a further blow to persistent supplyside problems economists say mining output rose by a marginal 01 as a decline in oil and gas extraction was offset by an increase in support activity for oil and gas operations the fed said utilities output fell 27 after increasing 104 the previous month as temperatures normalized and demand for heating declined on an annual basis industrial production rose 75 in february the fed said in the same month a year earlier however severe winter weather depressed industrial activity capacity utilizationwhich reflects how much industries are producing compared with what they could potentially produceincreased by 03 percentage point to 776 in february the fed said