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U.S. Jan. industrial output up 0.9%
The output of the nation's factories, mines and utilities rose 0.9% in January, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday. The increase was in line with forecasts of economists surveyed by MarketWatch. Factory activity alone rose 1.0% after slipping 0.1% in December. Industrial production was revised up to 0.7% rise in December from the prior estimate of a 0.6% gain. Capacity utilization - a gauge of slack in the economy -- rose to 72.6% in January from 71.9% in December. More

GDP surges 5.7% on inventory slowdown
Coming out of the worst recession in generations, the U.S. economy grew at the fastest pace in six years during the fourth quarter of 2009, even as consumer spending and business investment remained tepid, according to data released Friday by the Commerce Department. Real gross domestic product increased at a 5.7% seasonally-adjusted annual rate in the final three months of the year, the best quarterly growth since late 2003, the government estimated. The economy grew 2.2% in the third quarter.​ More