U.S. office landlords ended last year with the biggest gain in occupancies since 2007, signaling a pickup in momentum for the sluggish recovery since the last recession.

Occupied office space increased by a net 10.97 million square feet during the last three months of the year, the most since the third quarter of 2007, according to property-research firm Reis Inc. The measure, known as net absorption, jumped 28 percent in 2014 to 32.5 million square feet, also a seven-year high.