Industrial output improves for third month in a row

Helped by stronger auto production, the nation's industrial output increased 0.3 percent in February - the third consecutive rise - despite sharp oil- and mining-industry cutbacks, the Federal Reserve Board said. The Fed also issued a revision of the record for January: Factory output gained 1.3 percent instead of the originally reported 0.9 percent.

The latest report for February showed that despite the past three months of improvement, output at the nation's factories and mines is still about 11 percent below what it was when the recession began.