INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION

Industrial production rose 0.8 percent in January; output in December was revised downward and is now estimated to have been unchanged from the November reading. At 113.8 percent of its 1997 average, overall industrial output in January was 2.4 percent above its January 2003 level. Manufacturing output rose 0.3 percent, and mining output increased 0.1 percent; with unusually cold weather in January, the output of utilities rose 5.2 percent. The rate of capacity utilization for total industry increased from 75.6 percent in December to 76.2 percent in January.

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION: SUMMARY
Seasonally adjusted

	1997=100				Percent change
	2003			2004	2003			2004	Jan. '03 to
Industrial production	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Jan.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Jan.	Jan. '04
Total index	111.8	112.9	112.9	113.8	.3	1.0	.0	.8	2.4
Previous estimates	111.9	113.1	113.2		.4	1.0	.1
Major market groups
Final Products	107.7	108.8	108.5	109.1	-.1	1.1	-.3	.6	1.4
Consumer goods	106.0	107.0	106.6	107.4	-.1	1.0	-.4	.8	.8
Business equipment	110.8	112.8	112.8	113.4	-.3	1.8	.0	.5	3.3
Nonindustrial supplies	109.6	110.6	110.5	111.5	.8	1.0	-.2	.9	2.1
Construction	103.1	104.1	104.2	104.5	.9	1.0	.0	.4	1.8
Materials	116.9	118.0	118.5	119.5	.5	1.0	.4	.9	3.5
Major industry groups
Manufacturing (see note below)	112.9	114.1	114.2	114.6	.2	1.0	.1	.3	2.3
Previous estimates	113.0	114.2	114.5		.2	1.0	.3
Mining	93.7	94.0	94.2	94.3	.2	.3	.2	.1	.9
Utilities	111.0	112.8	111.3	117.1	1.0	1.6	-1.3	5.2	4.4

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 rose 0.8 percent in January. The production of consumer durables increased 0.6 percent, with gains spread broadly across its components. The output index for automotive products rose 0.8 percent; the index for appliances, furniture, and carpeting rose 1.0 percent; and the index for miscellaneous goods rose 0.9 percent. After a rapid run-up during the fourth quarter, the output of home electronics fell back 4.2 percent in January. The production of consumer nondurables rose 0.8 percent. The bulk of this increase occurred in consumer energy products, as utility sales to consumers jumped, while non-energy goods remained flat. The index for chemical products rose 0.5 percent, and the output of paper products was unchanged. The output of foods and tobacco decreased 0.2 percent, and clothing output fell 1.0 percent. Despite an increase during the fourth quarter, clothing output was down 11.2 percent from its level in January 2003.

The production of business equipment rose 0.5 percent in January, and increases were distributed evenly. The indexes for information processing equipment and for industrial and other equipment each rose 0.5 percent, and the production of transit equipment advanced 0.6 percent. The output of defense and space equipment fell 0.8 percent in January, to a level 1.4 percent higher than that of January 2003. The index for construction supplies rose 0.4 percent, and the output of business supplies increased 1.1 percent.

The production of industrial materials rose 0.9 percent in January. The output of durable materials increased 0.8 percent, with continued strength in equipment parts, especially semiconductors. The production of nondurable materials was unchanged, but the strength in utilities contributed to an advance of 2.0 percent for energy materials.

Industry Groups

Manufacturing output increased 0.3 percent in January and was 2.3 percent above its year-ago level. The factory operating rate rose 0.2 percentage point, to 74.6 percent, and was 5.4 percentage points below its 1972-2003 average. The output of durable goods rose 0.6 percent. The gains among the subsectors included increases of about 1.0 percent in the output indexes for computer and electronic products, motor vehicles and parts, fabricated metal products, and wood products. The indexes for the following groups all rose by smaller amounts: nonmetallic mineral products; machinery; electrical equipment, appliances, and components; furniture and related products; and miscellaneous durables. The index for primary metals declined 1.4 percent. The production of nondurable goods was unchanged in January. Textile and product mills output increased 1.2 percent, and chemical products rose 0.5 percent. The production of food, beverage, and tobacco products fell 0.2 percent. Declines of 1 percent or more occurred in the production indexes for apparel and leather and for petroleum and coal products.

Production at mines rose 0.1 percent; the utilization rate edged up, to 86.0 percent, a rate 0.9 percentage point below its 1972-2003 average. Output at utilities jumped 5.2 percent; despite a rise of 4.0 percentage points in the industry operating rate, to 86.1 percent, utilization still was below its 1972-2003 average of 86.9 percent. By stage of processing, capacity utilization for industries in the crude stage increased 0.3 percentage point, to 84.6 percent. Utilization for industries in the primary and semifinished stages increased 0.9 percentage point, to 78.7 percent, and utilization for industries in the finished stage rose 0.1 percentage point, to 71.7 percent.

Notices

The data in this release include preliminary estimates of industrial capacity for 2004. Total industrial capacity is projected to increase 1.7 percent, and manufacturing capacity is estimated to rise 1.8 percent. The increase in manufacturing capacity, which is notably larger than the 1.0 percent gain in 2003, mainly reflects a sharp increase in the pace of capacity expansion for high-technology industries. Outside high-technology industries, manufacturing capacity is expected to edge up, on balance. In 2004, capacity expansion at utilities is estimated to slow to 1.4 percent from the 4.4 percent pace in 2003, a move reflecting a less-sizable boost in electricity-generating capability after three years of significant gains.

With the May 14, 2004, release of the G.17, the comparison base year for the data both in Table 9, Gross Value of Final Products and Nonindustrial Supplies, and in Table 10, Gross-Value-Weighted Industrial Production: Stage-of-Process Groups, will be advanced to 2000 to conform with the comparison base year for the national income and product accounts.

G.17 Release Tables:

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
Ascii	Screen reader	Table 10: Gross-Value-Weighted Industrial Production: Stage-of-Process Groups
Ascii	Screen reader	Table 11: Electric Power Use: Manufacturing and Mining
Ascii	Screen reader	Table 12: Historical Statistics for IP, Capacity, and Utilization: Total Industry
Ascii	Screen reader	Table 13: Historical Statistics for IP, Capacity, and Utilization: Manufacturing
Ascii	Screen reader	Table 14: Historical Statistics for IP, Capacity, and Utilization: Total Industry excluding Selected High-Technology Industries
Ascii	Screen reader	Table 15: Historical Statistics for IP, Capacity, and Utilization: Manufacturing excluding Selected High-Technology Industries

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)

Statistical releases