INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION
[Annual Revision Notice Below]
Industrial production fell 1.8 percent in January. At 101.3 percent of its 2002 average, output in
January was 10.0 percent below its year-earlier level. Production in the manufacturing sector dropped 2.5
percent with broad-based declines among its components. A plunge in motor vehicle and parts production
that resulted from extended plant shutdowns subtracted more than 1.0 percentage point from the change in
manufacturing production. The output of mines moved down 1.3 percent. A swing to below-average
temperatures contributed to an increase of 2.7 percent in the output of utilities. The capacity
utilization rate for total industry fell to 72.0 percent, a rate 8.9 percentage points below its average
from 1972 to 2008.
Industrial production |
2002=100 | Percent change | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2008 | 2009 Jan.[p] |
2008 | 2009 Jan.[p] |
Jan. '08 to Jan. '09 |
|||||||||
Aug.[r] | Sept.[r] | Oct.[r] | Nov.[r] | Dec.[r] | Aug.[r] | Sept.[r] | Oct.[r] | Nov.[r] | Dec.[r] | ||||
Total index | 109.8 | 105.3 | 107.0 | 105.7 | 103.2 | 101.3 | -1.3 | -4.1 | 1.6 | -1.2 | -2.4 | -1.8 | -10.0 |
Previous estimates | 109.8 | 105.2 | 107.1 | 105.7 | 103.6 | -1.3 | -4.2 | 1.8 | -1.3 | -2.0 | |||
Major market groups | |||||||||||||
Final Products | 110.5 | 107.5 | 108.3 | 108.0 | 106.8 | 104.4 | -1.6 | -2.7 | .8 | -.3 | -1.1 | -2.2 | -8.4 |
Consumer goods | 103.8 | 102.4 | 104.3 | 103.4 | 101.3 | 99.5 | -2.1 | -1.4 | 1.9 | -.9 | -2.0 | -1.8 | -7.9 |
Business equipment | 129.3 | 119.7 | 116.3 | 118.7 | 121.6 | 117.1 | -.4 | -7.4 | -2.9 | 2.1 | 2.4 | -3.7 | -10.9 |
Nonindustrial supplies | 104.9 | 102.2 | 102.3 | 100.1 | 97.1 | 96.1 | -1.0 | -2.5 | .0 | -2.1 | -3.1 | -1.0 | -10.7 |
Construction | 100.9 | 98.5 | 97.0 | 93.1 | 89.3 | 86.3 | -1.1 | -2.4 | -1.5 | -4.0 | -4.1 | -3.4 | -16.7 |
Materials | 110.8 | 104.3 | 107.4 | 105.6 | 102.1 | 100.4 | -1.2 | -5.9 | 3.0 | -1.7 | -3.3 | -1.7 | -11.2 |
Major industry groups | |||||||||||||
Manufacturing (see note below) | 110.7 | 106.5 | 107.2 | 104.8 | 101.8 | 99.2 | -1.1 | -3.8 | .6 | -2.2 | -2.9 | -2.5 | -12.9 |
Previous estimates | 110.8 | 106.4 | 107.4 | 105.0 | 102.5 | -1.0 | -3.9 | .9 | -2.2 | -2.3 | |||
Mining | 105.2 | 94.9 | 102.4 | 104.9 | 103.8 | 102.5 | -.5 | -9.8 | 7.9 | 2.5 | -1.0 | -1.3 | -.8 |
Utilities | 103.9 | 105.5 | 107.4 | 109.5 | 109.3 | 112.3 | -4.6 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 2.0 | -.2 | 2.7 | 1.3 |
Capacity utilization |
Percent of capacity |
Capacity growth |
|||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Average 1972- 2008 |
1988- 89 high |
1990- 91 low |
1994- 95 high |
2001- 02 low |
2008 Jan. |
||||||||
2008 | 2009 Jan.[p] |
Jan. '08 to Jan. '09 |
|||||||||||
Aug.[r] | Sept.[r] | Oct.[r] | Nov.[r] | Dec.[r] | |||||||||
Total industry | 80.9 | 85.0 | 78.6 | 85.1 | 73.6 | 81.0 | 78.3 | 75.0 | 76.1 | 75.2 | 73.3 | 72.0 | 1.3 |
Previous estimates | 78.3 | 75.0 | 76.3 | 75.2 | 73.6 | ||||||||
Manufacturing (see note below) | 79.6 | 85.4 | 77.1 | 84.6 | 71.5 | 79.1 | 76.2 | 73.2 | 73.6 | 71.9 | 69.7 | 68.0 | 1.4 |
Previous estimates | 76.2 | 73.1 | 73.7 | 71.9 | 70.2 | ||||||||
Mining | 87.6 | 86.3 | 83.6 | 88.7 | 84.8 | 90.2 | 91.6 | 82.6 | 89.0 | 91.2 | 90.2 | 88.9 | .7 |
Utilities | 86.8 | 92.7 | 84.1 | 93.9 | 84.6 | 87.4 | 80.9 | 82.0 | 83.3 | 84.8 | 84.5 | 86.7 | 2.1 |
Stage-of-process groups | |||||||||||||
Crude | 86.7 | 88.3 | 84.4 | 89.5 | 81.9 | 89.5 | 89.4 | 79.7 | 86.2 | 86.6 | 84.7 | 83.9 | .5 |
Primary and semifinished | 82.1 | 86.4 | 77.8 | 88.2 | 74.6 | 81.3 | 77.7 | 75.2 | 76.2 | 74.2 | 71.6 | 70.4 | 1.5 |
Finished | 77.6 | 82.8 | 77.1 | 80.4 | 69.9 | 77.5 | 74.7 | 73.1 | 72.2 | 71.9 | 70.9 | 69.3 | 1.6 |
Market Groups
The production of consumer goods contracted 1.8 percent in January, and the rate of change for the fourth quarter was revised down 1.4 percentage points to show a drop of 4.2 percent (annual rate). In January, consumer durable goods fell 10.5 percent, consumer non-energy nondurable goods declined 0.4 percent, and consumer energy products increased 1.2 percent. Among consumer durables, the output of automotive products decreased 20.6 percent, as motor vehicle assemblies fell about 40 percent to an annual rate of 3.9 million units. The production of home electronics moved down 1.3 percent, and the indexes both for appliances, furniture, and carpeting and for miscellaneous goods dropped 2.3 percent. Among non-energy nondurable goods, the output of foods and tobacco rose 0.4 percent; however, the index for clothing retreated 3.3 percent, the index for consumer chemical products decreased 1.1 percent, and the index for paper products moved down 1.6 percent. An increase in residential sales of electricity and natural gas accounted for the gain in the index for consumer energy goods, while the production of fuels moved lower.
The output of business equipment dropped 3.7 percent. The production of industrial and other equipment contracted 3.0 percent, and the production of transit equipment fell 11.7 percent. The index for information processing equipment was little changed after having posted steep declines in the second half of 2008. In January, higher output of some types of communications equipment offset declines elsewhere.
The output of defense and space equipment increased 1.4 percent in January but is down about 2 percent over the past year.
Among nonindustrial supplies, the production of construction supplies decreased 3.4 percent in January. The production of business supplies edged down 0.1 percent; however, excluding energy sales to businesses, this index dropped 1.7 percent.
Materials output declined 1.7 percent in January. The production of energy materials was unchanged, but the output of non-energy materials moved down 2.8 percent. Among non-energy materials, the index for durable materials fell 4.6 percent. Lower production of motor vehicle parts was largely responsible for the 14.9 percent drop in the index for consumer parts. Reduced production of semiconductors helped to pull the index for equipment parts down 3.1 percent. The index for other durable materials fell 2.7 percent. The output of nondurable materials declined 0.3 percent, as the production of textile materials, paper materials, and chemical materials all moved lower.
Industry Groups
In January, manufacturing output fell 2.5 percent and was 12.9 percent below its year-earlier level. The factory operating rate moved down 1.7 percentage points, to 68.0 percent, the lowest rate of utilization since this series began in 1948. The index for durable goods dropped 4.8 percent. The output of motor vehicles and parts decreased at a monthly rate of 23.4 percent in January, after having contracted at an annual rate of more than 37 percent in the fourth quarter. All of the remaining major indexes fell sharply in January with the exception of miscellaneous manufacturing, which moved up 0.3 percent. The production of nondurable goods decreased 0.5 percent. The output of food, beverage, and tobacco products rose 0.6 percent after having fallen more than 2 percent in December, but declines were recorded in all the other major nondurable goods industries.
The index for the other manufacturing category, which consists of publishing and logging, decreased 1.5 percent.
The output of electric and gas utilities rose 2.7 percent, and the operating rate moved up 2.2 percentage points, to 86.7 percent. Mining output fell 1.3 percent, and the utilization rate dropped to 88.9 percent, a rate below its year-earlier level but 1.3 percentage points above its 1972-2008 average.
Capacity utilization rates in January at industries grouped by stage of process were as follows: At the
crude stage, utilization decreased 0.8 percentage point, to 83.9 percent, a rate 2.8 percentage points
below its 1972-2008 average; at the primary and semifinished stages, utilization moved down 1.2 percentage
points, to 70.4 percent, a rate 11.7 percentage points below its long-run average; and at the finished
stage, utilization declined 1.6 percentage points, to 69.3 percent, a rate 8.3 percentage points below its
long-run average.
Note: Preliminary Estimates of Industrial Capacity
The data in this release include preliminary estimates of industrial capacity for 2009. Measured fourth quarter to fourth quarter, total industrial capacity is projected to decrease 0.3 percent this year after having expanded 1.5 percent in 2008. Manufacturing capacity is estimated to decline 0.6 percent in 2009 after having risen 1.7 percent last year. In 2009, mining capacity is estimated to expand 0.8 percent, about the same as in 2008, and utilities capacity is projected to rise 1.7 percent, which is 0.5 percentage point slower than it had last year. With the publication on March 27, 2009, of the annual revision to industrial production, capacity, and capacity utilization, these estimates will be updated to reflect more-comprehensive source data, including the U.S. Census Bureau's Survey of Plant Capacity for the fourth quarter of 2008, which covers manufacturing.
Revision of Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization
Ascii | Screen reader | Summary: Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization |
Chart | Chart 1: Industrial Production, Capacity, and Capacity Utilization | |
Chart | Chart 2: Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization | |
Chart | Chart 3: Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization, High Technology Industries | |
Ascii | Screen reader | Table 1: Industrial Production: Market and Industry Groups (percent change) |
Ascii | Screen reader | Table 2: Industrial Production: Special Aggregates and Selected Detail (percent change) |
Ascii | Screen reader | Table 3: Motor Vehicle Assemblies |
Ascii | Screen reader | Table 4: Industrial Production Indexes: Market and Industry Group Summary |
Ascii | Screen reader | Table 5: Industrial Production Indexes: Special Aggregates |
Ascii | Screen reader | Table 6: Diffusion Indexes of Industrial Production |
Ascii | Screen reader | Table 7: Capacity Utilization: Manufacturing, Mining, and Utilities |
Ascii | Screen reader | Table 8: Industrial Capacity: Manufacturing, Mining, and Utilities (percent change) |
Ascii | Screen reader | Table 9: Industrial Production: Gross Value of Products and Nonindustrial Supplies |
Ascii | Screen reader | Table 10: Gross-Value-Weighted Industrial Production: Stage-of-Process Groups |
Ascii | Screen reader | Table 11: Historical Statistics for IP, Capacity, and Utilization: Total Industry |
Ascii | Screen reader | Table 12: Historical Statistics for IP, Capacity, and Utilization: Manufacturing |
Ascii | Screen reader | Table 13: Historical Statistics for IP, Capacity, and Utilization: Total Industry excluding Selected High-Technology Industries |
Ascii | Screen reader | Table 14: Historical Statistics for IP, Capacity, and Utilization: Manufacturing excluding Selected High-Technology Industries |