US factory output hits 1-year high as manufacturing sector recovers
Manufacturing has been hobbled by Trump’s tariffs, which business leaders say have raised costs for factories and consumers.
Manufacturing output rose 0.6 per cent last month, the largest gain since February 2025, after being unchanged in December, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday.
Economists had earlier forecast production for the sector, which accounts for 10.1 per cent of the economy, would rise 0.4 per cent. Output in December was previously reported to have risen 0.2 per cent.
Production at factories advanced by 2.4 per cent on a year-over-year basis in January.
Trump has defended his punitive import duties as necessary to restore a long-declining domestic industrial base. The manufacturing sector lost more than 80,000 jobs last year.