Factory output rose for the fourth straight month in June as hopeful manufacturers boosted production to meet an uptick in global demand from depressed levels, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Thursday in a closely watched monthly report.

Industrial production climbed 2.4 percent from the previous month and "continues to show an upward movement," METI said.

For the April-June period, factory output surged 8.3 percent — the biggest quarterly increase in more than five decades — though production was nearly one-quarter lower than a year earlier, reflecting the severity of the slump in previous months.