DDP
PrintIndustrial Production and Capacity Utilization - G.17
Current Release (247 KB PDF) (ASCII)
Industrial production edged down 0.1 percent in October after having advanced 0.8 percent in September. In October, manufacturing output increased 0.2 percent for the second consecutive month. The index for mining declined 0.9 percent and the output of utilities moved down 0.7 percent. At 104.9 percent of its 2007 average, total industrial production in October was 4.0 percent above its level of a year earlier. Capacity utilization for the industrial sector decreased 0.3 percentage point in October to 78.9 percent, a rate that is 1.2 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2013) average.
Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization: Summary
| Industrial production | 2007=100 | Percent change | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 2014 | Oct. '13 to Oct. '14 |
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| May[r] | June[r] | July[r] | Aug.[r] | Sept.[r] | Oct.[p] | May[r] | June[r] | July[r] | Aug.[r] | Sept.[r] | Oct.[p] | ||
| Total index | 103.7 | 104.0 | 104.3 | 104.1 | 105.0 | 104.9 | .5 | .3 | .3 | -.2 | .8 | -.1 | 4.0 |
| Previous estimates | 103.7 | 104.0 | 104.2 | 104.0 | 105.1 | .5 | .3 | .2 | -.2 | 1.0 | |||
| Major market groups | |||||||||||||
| Final Products | 100.2 | 100.0 | 100.8 | 100.0 | 100.3 | 100.3 | .0 | -.2 | .8 | -.7 | .3 | .0 | 2.3 |
| Consumer goods | 97.1 | 96.8 | 97.5 | 96.5 | 96.9 | 96.7 | -.3 | -.2 | .7 | -1.0 | .4 | -.2 | 1.4 |
| Business equipment | 107.2 | 106.9 | 108.2 | 107.9 | 107.5 | 108.2 | .8 | -.3 | 1.2 | -.3 | -.4 | .6 | 4.6 |
| Nonindustrial supplies | 90.9 | 91.0 | 91.2 | 91.4 | 92.3 | 92.3 | .6 | .1 | .2 | .2 | 1.0 | .0 | 2.8 |
| Construction | 84.0 | 84.3 | 85.2 | 85.2 | 85.5 | 85.7 | 1.4 | .4 | 1.0 | -.1 | .5 | .2 | 3.7 |
| Materials | 111.3 | 112.3 | 112.2 | 112.3 | 113.6 | 113.4 | .8 | .9 | -.1 | .1 | 1.2 | -.2 | 5.7 |
| Major industry groups | |||||||||||||
| Manufacturing (see note below) | 99.5 | 99.9 | 100.7 | 100.2 | 100.4 | 100.6 | .4 | .4 | .8 | -.5 | .2 | .2 | 3.4 |
| Previous estimates | 99.5 | 99.8 | 100.5 | 100.0 | 100.5 | .4 | .3 | .7 | -.5 | .5 | |||
| Mining | 129.0 | 130.8 | 130.6 | 131.2 | 133.2 | 132.1 | 1.0 | 1.4 | -.2 | .4 | 1.6 | -.9 | 9.9 |
| Utilities | 101.3 | 99.3 | 96.4 | 97.1 | 101.2 | 100.5 | .3 | -2.0 | -3.0 | .8 | 4.2 | -.7 | -1.3 |
| Capacity utilization | Percent of capacity | Capacity growth |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average 1972- 2013 |
1988- 89 high |
1990- 91 low |
1994- 95 high |
2009 low |
2013 Oct. |
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| 2014 | Oct. '13 to Oct. '14 |
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| May[r] | June[r] | July[r] | Aug.[r] | Sept.[r] | Oct.[p] | ||||||||
| Total industry | 80.1 | 85.3 | 78.7 | 85.0 | 66.9 | 78.2 | 79.1 | 79.2 | 79.2 | 78.8 | 79.2 | 78.9 | 3.0 |
| Previous estimates | 79.1 | 79.1 | 79.1 | 78.7 | 79.3 | ||||||||
| Manufacturing (see note below) | 78.7 | 85.6 | 77.3 | 84.6 | 63.9 | 76.3 | 77.1 | 77.3 | 77.8 | 77.3 | 77.3 | 77.2 | 2.2 |
| Previous estimates | 77.1 | 77.2 | 77.6 | 77.1 | 77.3 | ||||||||
| Mining | 87.3 | 86.3 | 83.8 | 88.5 | 78.8 | 87.4 | 89.8 | 90.4 | 89.5 | 89.1 | 89.8 | 88.3 | 8.7 |
| Utilities | 86.1 | 92.9 | 84.3 | 93.3 | 78.5 | 80.3 | 79.5 | 77.9 | 75.5 | 76.0 | 79.1 | 78.5 | 1.0 |
| Stage-of-process groups | |||||||||||||
| Crude | 86.3 | 87.7 | 84.4 | 89.6 | 76.8 | 85.9 | 87.4 | 87.8 | 87.3 | 87.1 | 87.7 | 86.6 | 7.0 |
| Primary and semifinished | 80.8 | 86.5 | 77.9 | 87.7 | 64.2 | 76.9 | 77.4 | 77.5 | 77.1 | 77.0 | 77.7 | 77.6 | 1.9 |
| Finished | 77.1 | 83.4 | 77.4 | 80.6 | 66.8 | 76.1 | 77.1 | 77.0 | 77.6 | 76.9 | 76.8 | 76.8 | 2.4 |
Market Groups
In October, declines in the indexes for consumer goods and materials were the largest contributors to the decrease in total industrial production; the indexes for defense and space equipment and for business supplies also recorded declines. Gains in the production of business equipment and construction supplies offset some of the losses. The output of consumer goods moved down 0.2 percent, with decreases of more than 1 percent for automotive products and paper products and with a smaller decline for energy goods. The output of materials decreased 0.2 percent, as a decline in the production of energy materials was only partially offset by small gains in the indexes for durable and nondurable materials. By contrast, the production of business equipment moved up 0.6 percent, with increases in the indexes for information processing equipment and for industrial and other equipment; the output of business equipment was 4.6 percent above its level of a year earlier.
Industry Groups
Manufacturing output rose 0.2 percent in October, as the production of nondurable goods rose 0.3 percent and the production of durable goods edged up 0.1 percent. Among durable goods industries, machinery posted the largest increase, 1.3 percent, while wood products, computers and electronic products, and furniture and related products all recorded gains of more than 1/2 percent. These gains were partially offset by declines of more than 1 percent in the indexes for nonmetallic mineral products and for motor vehicles and parts. The decline in motor vehicles and parts resulted from a decrease in vehicle assemblies, which fell 400,000 units to an annual rate of 11.1 million. Production increased for most nondurable goods industries, with the largest advances recorded by chemicals and by plastics and rubber products; only the paper industry registered a decline. The production of other manufacturing (non-NAICS) industries fell 1.1 percent.
The capacity utilization rate for manufacturing edged down 0.1 percentage point in October to 77.2 percent, a rate 1.5 percentage points below its long-run average. Although the operating rate for nondurable goods industries increased, utilization both for durables and for other manufacturing (non-NAICS) decreased. The utilization rate for mines fell 1.5 percentage points to 88.3 percent, while the rate for utilities decreased 0.6 percentage point to 78.5 percent.
Note. The statistics in this release cover output, capacity, and capacity utilization in the U.S. industrial sector, which is defined by the Federal Reserve to comprise manufacturing, mining, and electric and gas utilities. Mining is defined as all industries in sector 21 of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS); electric and gas utilities are those in NAICS sectors 2211 and 2212. Manufacturing comprises NAICS manufacturing industries (sector 31-33) plus the logging industry and the newspaper, periodical, book, and directory publishing industries. Logging and publishing are classified elsewhere in NAICS (under agriculture and information respectively), but historically they were considered to be manufacturing and were included in the industrial sector under the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. In December 2002 the Federal Reserve reclassified all its industrial output data from the SIC system to NAICS.
