Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization - G.17

Revision of Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization

The Federal Reserve Board issued its annual revision to the index of industrial production (IP) and the related measures of capacity utilization at noon EDT on March 30, 2012. The revised IP indexes incorporated detailed data from the 2010 Annual Survey of Manufactures, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. Annual data from the U.S. Geological Survey regarding metallic and nonmetallic minerals (except fuels) for 2010 were also incorporated. The update included revisions to the monthly indicator and to seasonal factors for each industry. In addition, the estimation methods for some series have changed. Modifications to the methods for estimating the output of an industry did affect the index from 1972 to the present.

Capacity and capacity utilization were revised to incorporate data through the fourth quarter of 2011 from the Census Bureau's Quarterly Survey of Plant Capacity, which covers manufacturing, along with new data on capacity from the U.S. Geological Survey, the Department of Energy, and other organizations.

The revision is available on the Board's website at www.federalreserve.gov/releases/G17. Further information on the revision can be obtained from the Board's Industrial Output Section (telephone number 202-452-3197).

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