The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Industrial production at the nation's factories, mines and utilities rose by only 0.1 percent in December, slowing from the previous month's big increase.

The gain reported Friday by the Federal Reserve followed a revised 1 percent November jump, stronger than previously estimated and the biggest in four years.

Economists were expecting industrial production to cool off a bit in December given November's brisk activity. Analysts were calling for a 0.5 percent increase. Still, with December's gain, it marked the fourth straight month that production expanded.

Earlier this week, the Fed, in a more forward-looking survey of business conditions around the country, found the economy was gaining momentum as the new year began. The Fed reported growing signs that the nation's battered manufacturing sector was beginning to pull out of its nosedive.

In Friday's report, production at factories - the biggest chunk of industrial activity tracked by the Fed - rose by a modest 0.3 percent in December, down from a 1 percent gain the previous month. Output at mines was flat, following a 0.6 percent increase in November. Production at utilities sank by 1.4 percent, erasing the same-sized gain the month before.

"When you put all the data together it shows that a moderate manufacturing recovery is sustainable and is continuing," said Clifford Waldman, economist at the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI, a research group.

On Wall Street, stocks rose. The Dow Jones industrials gained 46.66 points to close at 10,600.51, the highest close since March 19, 2002.