Industrial production rose a stronger-than-expected 0.9 percent in January, the seventh consecutive monthly increase, as manufacturers continued leading the nation's economic recovery.

January's industrial production numbers rose in all three major categories: Manufacturing, mining, and energy utilities. It was the first such show of strength since August 2009, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday.

The January results outpaced the 0.6 percent growth that economists expected, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.

The across-the-board gains reflect more meaningful economic progress than December's increase, which the Fed revised up to 0.7 percent from the 0.6 percent reported earlier.

In December, manufacturing and mining activity fell, but weather-related gains in utility production offset that decline.

In January, manufacturing led the pack with a 1.0 percent increase, reversing a 0.1 percent loss in December. That followed a 0.1 percent decline in October and a 1.0 percent gain in November. It was the largest increase since manufacturing activity grew by 1.2 percent in August 2009.

Utilities and mining both were up 0.7 percent in January. Utilities saw a massive 6.3 percent increase in December due to increased energy use during an unusually cold winter.

Mining activity also reversed a modest 0.2 percent decline in December. It still has not returned to November's more robust 2.1 percent growth.

The frequent swings from positive to negative results are a typical pattern during slow economic recovery, economists say.

Meanwhile, the nation's industries were operating at 72.6 percent of capacity in January. It was a 0.7 percent increase from December, following increases of 0.4 percent in November and 0.6 percent in December.