Industrial production was up 0.8% in December, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday.
The increase followed a revised 0.7% drop in November, first reported as a 0.4% decline.
Capacity utilization gained to 75.5% in December from a revised 74.9%, first reported as 75.0%, the previous month.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters projected a 0.6% rise in industrial production and a 75.4% capacity utilization rate.
Manufacturing output was up 0.2% in December, following a 0.2% gain in November.
Utilities' output rose 6.2% after increasing 6.6% in November, while mining was down 2.8% after a flat reading the month before.