NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Output from U.S. mines, utilities and manufacturers rose in April, the government reported Friday, coming in above economists' estimates as the amount of resources companies used hit the highest level in almost three years.

Industrial production gained 0.8 percent last month, the Federal Reserve reported, after falling a revised 0.1 percent in March.

The Fed also said factories, mines and utilities ran at 76.9 percent of capacity in the month, compared with an unrevised 76.5 percent in March. The April reading is the highest level since July 2001.

Economists, on average, expected production to rise 0.5 percent and capacity use of 76.7 percent, according to Briefing.com.

The report on the manufacturing sector will likely heighten the anticipation that the Fed will raise interest rates at its next meeting in late June, as factories head toward full capacity, employment picks up and inflation creeps back into the world's largest economy.

Following the report, Treasury prices rose, with the 10-year note yielding 4.80 percent. Stocks opened lower.

Production from U.S. manufacturers notched the eighth consecutive month of gains with a 0.7 percent rise in April. Output from utilities rose 1.5 percent and production from mines climbed 0.8 percent.

The Fed added that the overall factory operating rate rose nearly 0.5 percentage point to 75.5 percent, the highest level in three years, and led by computers and semiconductors in the technology sector.