Powered by a jump in vehicle production, the US saw a third monthly gain in factory output that more than doubled expectations, coming in at 0.9% for March while forecasts were at 0.4%, the Reuters reports.
Factory output was 5.5% than March 2020, another indicator of strong economic growth in the United States. A significant portion of the jump in output came from the automotive industry, which had been battling a shortage in semiconductor chips used in vehicles, which caused some factories to temporarily shut down.
Production capacity figures hit a three-year high of 78.3%, meaning that US manufacturers are using more of their production capacity because of higher demand in the market.