INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION
[2004 Revision Notice Below]

Industrial production rose 0.3 percent in November after having climbed 0.6 percent in October; the production estimates for both September and October were revised down. At 117.6 percent of its 1997 average, the November index was 4.2 percent above its year-ago level. Manufacturing output increased 0.3 percent in November, and production in both durables and nondurables advanced moderately. The index for mining output rose 2.1 percent, and the index for utilities fell 1.4 percent. The rate of capacity utilization for total industry edged up 0.1 percentage point, to 77.6 percent, a level 3.5 percentage points below its 1972-2003 average.

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 was unchanged in November. Among durable consumer goods, lower output of home electronics and automotive products offset gains in appliances, furniture, and carpeting, as well as in miscellaneous goods. The output of consumer non-energy nondurables increased 0.2 percent in November, the third consecutive month of modest gains. An increase in chemical products more than offset lower production of paper products. The production of consumer energy products fell 0.3 percent.

The index for business equipment increased 0.4 percent and now stands 10 percent above its year-ago level. The production indexes for information processing equipment, industrial and other equipment, and transit equipment all moved up. The production of defense and space equipment rose for the fifth consecutive month. The output of construction supplies increased 0.4 percent, and the output of business supplies edged up 0.1 percent.

The production of industrial materials gained 0.3 percent. The output of non-energy materials moved up, as decreases in textiles and consumer parts were more than offset by higher production of equipment parts, paper materials, industrial chemicals, and other durable materials. The increase in the equipment parts index principally reflected gains in semiconductors and computer parts; the index stood at 13.9 percent above its year-ago level. The output of energy materials rose 0.4 percent.

Industry Groups

The rise of 0.3 percent in manufacturing output in November reflected a 0.4 percent increase in the production of durables, a 0.3 percent increase in the production of nondurables, and a 0.1 percent decrease in non-NAICS manufacturing (logging and publishing). Among durables, sizable gains were posted by the indexes for nonmetallic mineral products; aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment; and electrical equipment, appliances, and components, while the indexes for wood products and for motor vehicles and parts declined. Among nondurables, petroleum refining and printing and support registered substantial output gains, and chemical production moved up moderately. In contrast, the output of textile mills and paper fell. The overall factory operating rate in November edged up 0.1 percentage point, to 76.7 percent, a level 2.3 percentage points above its year-ago level but 3.3 percentage points below its 1972-2003 average.

The decline of 1.4 percent in utilities output in November was driven entirely by lower production at electric utilities. Among the mining categories, crude oil extraction rose for the first time since July, while natural gas extraction edged up further.

Capacity utilization for industries in the crude stage of processing increased 1.0 percentage point, to 84.6 percent. The utilization rate for industries in the primary and semifinished stages dipped 0.2 percentage point, to 78.9 percent, and the utilization rate for finished goods producers increased 0.2 percentage point, to 75.0 percent.

Revision of Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization

On December 22, 2004, the Federal Reserve Board will issue its annual 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. Comprehensive source data from the Census Bureau's 2002 Economic Census will be incorporated into the production database. In addition to these data, the revised IP indexes will reflect data from selected editions of the Census Bureau's 2002 and 2003 Current Industrial Reports. Annual data from the U.S. Geological Survey regarding metallic and nonmetallic minerals (except fuels) for 2002 and 2003 will also be introduced. The updating will also include 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 will be revised to incorporate preliminary data from the Census Bureau's 2003 Survey of Plant Capacity, which covers manufacturing, along with new data on capacity from the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Department of Energy, and other organizations. The statistics on the industrial use of electric power will incorporate additional information received from utilities for the past few years and will include available data from the 2002 Economic Census.

Once the revision is published, it will be made available on the Board's website at www.federalreserve.gov/releases/G17. The revised data will also be available through the website of the Department of Commerce. Further information on these revisions is available from the Board's Industrial Output Section (telephone 202-452-3197).

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 and Nonindustrial Supplies
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
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Supplemental Monthly Release   Other formats: ASCII | PDF (144 KB)
Annual Revision Release   Other formats: ASCII | PDF (150 KB)

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