US automotive industry making a comeback

Output pick-up: An assembly line at a General Motors plant in Detroit, Michigan. Economists forecast factory production to accelerate. — AFP

NEW YORK: A sharp rebound in automotive output in March spurred a third straight monthly gain in US factory activity, perhaps signalling the worst of the production woes that have dogged the motor vehicle industry over the last year may have passed.

Overall industrial production increased 0.9% last month, keeping pace with February’s upwardly revised pace, the Federal Reserve said. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast factory production accelerating 0.4%. Output jumped 5.5% from a year earlier.