Industry operated at 79.7% of capacity last month.

It was the best showing in almost a year, as the U.S. manufacturing sector continued to provide signs that the worst of its trade problems may be ending. The Federal Reserve said it was the third consecutive monthly increase in the operating rate at the nation’s factories, mines and utilities. The 0.2 percentage point January increase followed gains of 0.1 percentage point in December and 0.4 percentage point in November. Even with the improvement, the operating rate is still 2.1 percentage points lower than it was at the high point of this recovery in the summer of 1984.