The latest U.S. industrial production numbers have thumped economists’ expectations. The numbers rose 0.8% in June, and finally moved levels from a year ago.

The announcement “shook downtrodden market participants as did therevision to prior months,” say economists at RBC Financial. “Whereas industrial production appeared to be cooling off following a strong start to the year, it now appears to be on an accelerating trend given downward revisions to some early months and the latest surge.”

BMO Nesbitt Burns economists say that the recovery seems to be solid, pointing to the fact that 64% of industries lifted production over the last three months. “The uptick is so widely spread that it is very unlikely to be a fluke.” The high tech sector is starting to rebound “with a 1.7% June rise, continuing the return from catastrophic levels to dismal activity levels. A lot more lies ahead before a return to full health in this sector.”

Motor vehicles led the low-tech industries to a 0.7% rise last month. “However,” says BMO, “good gains were scored by other basic industries as well. Again, the bottom line was breadth. U.S. manufacturing is rising across the board. The U.S. economic rebound is continuing. However, markets are focussed on the turmoil in the equity markets, and not the economic data.”

“The U.S. economy continues to operate at healthy levels completely detached from the doom and gloom emanating from financial markets,” says RBC. “Near-term prospects for the U.S. economy and the course of monetary policy will be shaped by which side – the real economy or financial markets – has a heavier pull on consumer and business confidence. The Fed will have its hands full in the months ahead trying to decipher how this situation turns out.”