Production at the nation's factories, mines and utilities rose 0.8% in November from October, the Federal Reserve just reported. It was flat in October.

In yet another sign that while the economy might be doing better, it still isn't doing great, the Fed said that even with the November increase, production was still down 5.1% from November 2008.

At manufacturers alone, the Fed said, output rose 1.1% last month from October — and was down 4.9% from a year earlier.

Planet Money follows the economy's ups and downs here.