WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. manufacturing output likely rose sharply in December as aerospace giant Boeing Co's output picked up after a strike by factory workers ended.

The Federal Reserve said on Friday that factory output rose 0.6% last month, following a rebound from a 0.4% increase in November. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 0.2% rise in output, following previous reports of a 0.2% increase.

Factory output was flat in December from a year earlier. Annualized growth fell 1.2% in the fourth quarter, following a 0.8% contraction in the July-September quarter. Manufacturing, which accounts for 10.3% of the economy, has been largely stable in recent months after the Federal Reserve began cutting interest rates.

The Institute for Supply Management purchasing managers' index rose to a nine-month high in December. But President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration plans to impose broad tariffs on imported goods that could raise raw material costs and hurt the recovery.

The output of aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment increased by 6.3%. A strike by Boeing factory workers ended in November, causing overall manufacturing production to decline in September and October.

The output of motor vehicles and parts fell by 0.6% last month. Durable manufacturing output increased by 0.4%, and major metal output increased by 1.7%. Non-durable goods manufacturing output generally rose, up 0.7%.

Mining output fell 0.5% in November before rising 1.8%.

Utility production rose 2.1%, driven by a 6.2% increase in natural gas production due to freezing weather. It fell 0.7% in November.

Industrial production rose 0.9% last month, following a 0.2% increase in November, with aircraft and parts production contributing 0.2 percentage points. It rose 0.5% year-on-year in December and contracted 0.8% in the fourth quarter, following a 0.6% contraction in the July-September quarter.

The industrial sector's capacity utilization rate, a measure of how well a company is utilizing its resources, rose to 77.6% from 77.0% in November. This is 2.1 percentage points below the 1972 to 2023 average. The manufacturing operating rate rebounded by 0.4 percentage points to 76.6 in December. 1.7 percentage points below the long-term average.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani)