The troubled U.S. manufacturing sector continued its recovery in January.
A report Monday by an industry group, the Institute for Supply Management, shows manufacturing expanding for the eight consecutive month. The rate of expansion hit its highest level in two decades.
Experts welcomed the news of expansion because manufacturing in the United States has lost more than two million jobs over the past three years.
Also Monday, government reports reinforced the picture of an American economy that is recovering and expanding at a healthy rate.
The Commerce Department said low interest rates fueled growth in construction while consumer spending also grew.
Some information for this report provided by Bloomberg, AP and Reuters.