The Ministry of International Trade and Industry upgraded its assessment of industrial activity Thursday, announcing that Japan's output jumped 3.3 percent from the previous month.

Production is now on a "rising trend," the ministry said. This improves on its previous description of a "modest rising trend" -- an assessment that had been maintained since last December.

The seasonally adjusted rise in the index of production at mines and factories is the highest since January 1993, when the current measuring standards were adopted.

The production index for August reached 108.3 against a 100-point benchmark established in 1995, marking the 15th consecutive month of rise, according to a preliminary report.

The officials attributed the month-on-month rise to increased production of several items, especially cellphones, automobiles, steam turbines and manufacturing equipment for semiconductors.

A decline of 2.5 percent is expected in September in response to the strong rise in August, but the index is expected to rebound by 1.7 percent in October, the officials said. The shipment index for August rose 3.7 percent to a record 110.6, marking the first increase in two months.

The inventories index rose 0.1 percent to 95.5 for the first increase in four months.