U.S. industrial output rose by a bigger than expected 0.9 percent in January with gains recorded in all major categories, Federal Reserve data showed on Wednesday.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 0.7 percent advance. December's gain in industrial production was revised up to 0.7 percent from 0.6 percent.

Manufacturing grew by 1.0 percent in January, a big rebound from the previous month when it declined by 0.1 percent. Utilities, which had accounted for the bulk of December's advance, rose 0.7 percent in January after a weather-related 6.3 percent jump in December.

Consumer goods, business equipment and materials all showed gains for January.

Capacity utilization, a measure of slack in the economy, rose to 72.6 percent from 71.9 percent a month earlier. That was still 8 percentage points below the average from 1972 to 2009, the Fed said.

(Editing by James Dalgleish)