Washington, Jul 18 (IANS): US industrial production increased 0.4 percent in June, a fresh evidence of the ongoing US economic recovery, the US Federal Reserve said in a report.

The June increase in industrial production, an indicator of the output of mines, factories and utilities, followed a 0.2 percent decline in the previous month, reported Xinhua.

Manufacturing output, the largest component of the overall industrial production, advanced 0.7 percent last month. Manufacturing industry has shown upbeat performance since the US economy began to recover in the second half of 2009.

Outside manufacturing, the output of mining sector rose 0.7 percent in June, but the output of utilities decreased 1.9 percent last month.

The report also showed that overall industrial capacity utilization -- a key measure of slack in the industrial economy -- stood at 78.9 percent in June, 0.2 percentage point higher than the previous month, but was still 1.4 percentage points below its average from 1972 to 2011.