Industrial output expanded last month at the fastest pace since April and manufacturing notched another solid advance, hinting at underlying resilience in an economy that has struggled to establish momentum.

Industrial production increased by 0.6 percent in July, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday, beating a 0.5 percent gain forecast by a Reuters poll of economists and compared with a downwardly revised increase of 0.1 percent in June.

Factory production was up 0.5 percent in the month and utilities output rose a solid 1.3 percent, snapping back from a sharp 3.3 percent decline in June. Mining production rose 1.2 percent.

Capacity utilization, a measure of how fully firms are using their resources, was 79.3 percent, just beating forecasts and advancing from 78.9 percent in June.