IT Capacity Use Is On The RiseIT Capacity Use Is On The Rise

American producers of computer and office equipment used a bit more factory capacity last month, one more sign that the IT industry is coming out of its doldrums.

At 78%, IT capacity utilization in January inched ahead 0.1 percentage point from December, but was up sharply from 73.2% a year earlier, the Federal Reserve said Friday. Across industries, things looked more optimistic. Overall capacity utilization rose half a percent to 75.7%, the highest level since September.

Combined with improved durable-goods orders for IT equipment, the tech sector is getting stronger, Creighton University economist Ernest Goss says. "It's sort of depressing that uncertainty generated by a possible war is preventing a much stronger recovery."