Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization

Release Date: January 16, 2004
Release dates | Historical data | Documentation
Current Monthly Release   Other formats: ASCII | PDF (144 KB)
Supplemental Monthly Release   Other formats: ASCII | PDF (144 KB)
Annual Revision Release   Other formats: ASCII | PDF (150 KB)

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION
[2003 Revision Notice Below]

Industrial production rose 0.1 percent in December after an upwardly revised increase of 1.0 percent in November; for the fourth quarter as a whole, production advanced at an annual rate of 6.2 percent. At 113.2 percent of its 1997 average, output was 2.3 percent above its December 2002 level. Manufacturing output rose 0.3 percent in December. Mining output was unchanged, and output at utilities fell 1.4 percent. The rate of capacity utilization for total industry was unchanged in December at 75.8 percent.

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION: SUMMARY
Seasonally adjusted

1997=100 Percent change

2003 2003 Dec. '02 to

Industrial production Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Dec. '03

Total index 111.5 111.9 113.1 113.2     .6     .4    1.0     .1    2.3

   Previous estimates 111.5 111.9 112.9           .6     .4     .9

Major market groups

Final Products 107.8 107.8 109.0 108.8     .5     .0    1.0    -.2    1.8

   Consumer goods 106.1 106.2 107.1 106.9     .4     .1     .8    -.2    1.2

   Business equipment 111.2 111.1 113.2 113.1    1.1    -.1    1.9    -.1    3.5

Nonindustrial supplies 108.7 109.7 110.8 110.6     .1     .9    1.0    -.2    2.0

   Construction 102.3 103.1 104.2 104.1     .3     .8    1.1     .0    2.0

Materials 116.4 117.0 118.2 118.7     .8     .6    1.0     .4    3.0

Major industry groups

Manufacturing (see note below) 112.7 113.0 114.2 114.5     .9     .2    1.0     .3    2.9

   Previous estimates 112.7 113.0 114.0           .8     .3     .9

Mining   93.5   93.7   94.2   94.2     .4     .2     .6     .0     .1

Utilities 109.9 112.0 113.5 112.0   -1.8    1.9    1.4   -1.4    -.7


									Capacity
	Percent of capacity								growth
	Average	1982	1988-89	2002	2003				Dec. '02 to
Capacity utilization	1972-2002	Low	High	Dec.	Sept.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Dec. '03

Total industry	81.3	70.9	85.2	74.9	74.9	75.1	75.8	75.8	1.1
Previous estimates					74.9	75.1	75.7

Manufacturing (see note below)	80.2	68.7	85.6	73.1	73.6	73.7	74.4	74.5	.9
Previous estimates					73.5	73.7	74.3
Mining	86.9	78.6	85.6	85.4	85.2	85.3	85.9	85.9	-.5
Utilities	87.0	77.6	92.8	86.7	81.8	83.1	84.0	82.6	4.2

Stage-of-process groups
Crude	86.4	77.2	88.5	83.8	83.8	83.9	84.5	84.6	-1.1
Primary and semifinished	82.4	68.1	86.4	77.0	76.6	77.2	77.9	77.9	1.8
Finished	78.4	71.3	83.2	70.8	71.2	71.1	71.9	71.8	.7

r Revised. p Preliminary.
The statistics in this release cover output, capacity, and capacity utilization in the
industrial sector, which the Federal Reserve defines as manufacturing, mining, and electric and
gas utilities. Manufacturing comprises those industries included in the North American Industry
Classification System, or NAICS, manufacturing plus the logging and newspaper, periodical,
book and directory publishing industries that have traditionally been considered manufacturing and included
in the industrial sector.

Market Groups

The output of consumer goods fell 0.2 percent in December. The production of consumer durables rose 0.2 percent despite declines in home electronics and in appliances, furniture, and carpeting. The output indexes for automotive products and for miscellaneous goods each rose 0.4 percent. The production of consumer nondurables fell 0.3 percent. The decline in the nondurables index was driven by a drop of 1.6 percent in the index for clothing; the indexes for energy products and for foods and tobacco fell by smaller amounts. The output of chemical products rose 0.5 percent.

Business equipment production edged down 0.1 percent in December. The output of information processing equipment dropped 0.8 percent but showed a gain at an annual rate of 14.7 percent in the fourth quarter; it ended the year up 7.7 percent from its December 2002 level. Output in transit equipment and in the industrial and other category posted small gains in December.

The output of defense and space equipment edged up 0.1 percent in December to a level 3.9 percent higher than that of a year earlier. The index for construction supplies in December was unchanged, and business supplies showed a drop of 0.3 percent.

The production of industrial materials rose 0.4 percent in December. The output of durable materials advanced 1.1 percent, and that of nondurable materials edged up 0.2 percent. The output of energy materials dropped 0.4 percent.

Industry Groups

Manufacturing output rose 0.3 percent in December; the factory operating rate edged up 0.1 percentage point to 74.5 percent. At year end, manufacturing utilization remained 5.7 percentage points below its 1972-2002 average. Production increased at an annual rate of 6.6 percent in the fourth quarter, and December's output ended up 2.9 percent above its level in December 2002. The production of durable goods rose 0.6 percent in December. The largest gain among its subsectors was for primary metals, in which output increased 2.0 percent. The index for computer and electronic products rose at an annual rate of 24.8 percent for the fourth quarter as a whole and increased 0.5 percent in December 2003. Among the high-technology industries, computers and office equipment moved up 2.6 percent, and semiconductors and related electronic components rose 3.6 percent, while communications equipment fell 2.2 percent. Production of electrical equipment, appliances, and components rose 0.8 percent in December. Production of motor vehicles and parts rose 0.6 percent, and the index for aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment moved up 0.9 percent. The production of wood products, nonmetallic mineral products, fabricated metal products, and machinery also posted gains. The index for furniture and related products edged down 0.1 percent. The output of nondurable goods was unchanged. The output of petroleum and coal products and chemicals posted gains, while output indexes for textile and product mills and for apparel and leather each moved down 1.3 percent; other categories showed smaller drops.

Production at mines was unchanged in December; the utilization rate remained constant at 85.9 percent, 1 percentage point below its 1972-2002 average. The output at utilities fell 1.4 percent in December; the operating rate fell 1.4 percentage points, to 82.6 percent, a rate that is 4.4 percentage points below its 1972-2002 average. By stage of processing, capacity utilization for industries in the crude stage rose 0.1 percentage point, to 84.6 percent. Utilization for industries in the primary and semifinished stage was flat at 77.9 percent, while utilization for industries in the finished stage edged down 0.1 percentage point, to 71.8 percent.

Revision of Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization

On November 10, the Federal Reserve Board issued a revision to the index of industrial production (IP), the related measures of capacity and capacity utilization, and the data on industrial use of electric power. The updated measures reflect the incorporation of newly available, more comprehensive source data typical of annual revisions. The updating of source data for IP in the 2003 annual revision included annual data from the Census Bureau's 2000 and 2001 Annual Survey of Manufactures and from selected editions of its 2001 and 2002 Current Industrial Reports. Annual data from the U.S. Geological Survey regarding metallic and nonmetallic minerals (except fuels) for 2001 and 2002 were also introduced. The updating included revisions to the monthly indicator for each industry (either physical product data, production-worker hours, or electric power usage) and revisions to seasonal factors.

Capacity and capacity utilization were revised to incorporate preliminary data from the Census Bureau's 2002 Survey of Plant Capacity, which covers manufacturing, along with other new data on capacity from the U.S. Geological Survey, the Department of Energy, and other organizations. The statistics on the industrial use of electric power incorporate additional information received from utilities for the past few years and include some data from the 2001 Annual Survey of Manufactures.

The revision release and revised data are available on the Board's web site, at www.federalreserve.gov/releases/G17. The revised data are also available through the web site of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Further information on these revisions is available from the Board's Industrial Output Section (telephone 202-452-3197).

Statistical releases

Last update: January 16, 2004, 9:15 AM