INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION
Industrial production fell 0.2 percent in April after an increase of 0.1 percent in March.
Revisions altered the previously published pattern of output for January through March, but
industrial output in the first quarter is still reported to have risen at an annual rate of 3.6 percent.
In April, the output indexes for manufacturing and mining were unchanged, and the output of
utilities dropped 2.3 percent. At 118.3 percent of the 1997 average, overall industrial output was
3.1 percent above its April 2004 level. The rate of capacity utilization for total industry fell 0.2
percentage point, to 79.2 percent, a rate 1.8 percentage points below its 1972-2004 average.
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION: SUMMARY
Seasonally adjusted
Industrial production |
1997=100 |
Percent change |
2005 |
2005 |
Apr. '04 to Apr. '05 |
Jan. |
Feb. |
Mar. |
Apr. |
Jan. |
Feb. |
Mar. |
Apr. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total index |
117.8 |
118.3 |
118.5 |
118.3 |
-.1 |
.5 |
.1 |
-.2 |
3.1 |
Previous estimates |
117.9 |
118.2 |
118.5 |
|
.0 |
.2 |
.3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Major market groups |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Final Products |
115.8 |
116.7 |
116.6 |
116.2 |
-.1 |
.7 |
-.1 |
-.4 |
3.4 |
Consumer goods |
112.4 |
113.4 |
113.2 |
112.2 |
-.7 |
.9 |
-.1 |
-.9 |
1.4 |
Business equipment |
125.2 |
125.6 |
125.5 |
126.5 |
1.2 |
.3 |
.0 |
.8 |
8.4 |
Nonindustrial supplies |
114.6 |
114.7 |
115.5 |
115.4 |
.1 |
.0 |
.7 |
.0 |
3.0 |
Construction |
108.5 |
109.5 |
109.6 |
110.1 |
.6 |
.9 |
.1 |
.5 |
3.4 |
Materials |
120.8 |
121.3 |
121.5 |
121.4 |
-.2 |
.4 |
.2 |
-.1 |
2.8 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Major industry groups |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Manufacturing (see note below) |
120.2 |
120.8 |
120.4 |
120.5 |
.4 |
.5 |
-.3 |
.0 |
3.5 |
Previous estimates |
120.1 |
120.5 |
120.4 |
|
.3 |
.3 |
-.1 |
|
|
Mining |
90.8 |
93.0 |
93.5 |
93.5 |
-.7 |
2.4 |
.5 |
.0 |
1.5 |
Utilities |
114.0 |
112.7 |
116.8 |
114.1 |
-3.8 |
-1.2 |
3.6 |
-2.3 |
.7 |
Capacity utilization |
Percent of capacity |
Capacity growth Apr. '04 to Apr. '05 |
Average 1972-2004 |
1982 Low |
1988-89 High |
2004 Apr. |
2005 |
Jan. |
Feb. |
Mar. |
Apr. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total industry |
81.0 |
70.8 |
85.1 |
77.7 |
79.1 |
79.4 |
79.4 |
79.2 |
1.2 |
Previous estimates |
|
|
|
|
79.2 |
79.3 |
79.4 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Manufacturing (see note below) |
79.8 |
68.5 |
85.6 |
76.3 |
78.1 |
78.3 |
78.0 |
77.9 |
1.4 |
Previous estimates |
|
|
|
|
78.0 |
78.2 |
78.0 |
|
|
Mining |
87.1 |
78.6 |
85.8 |
87.1 |
86.1 |
88.2 |
88.8 |
88.9 |
-.6 |
Utilities |
86.8 |
77.7 |
92.8 |
84.4 |
83.8 |
82.8 |
85.7 |
83.7 |
1.6 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Stage-of-process groups |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Crude |
86.4 |
77.3 |
88.9 |
85.8 |
85.6 |
86.8 |
87.0 |
87.3 |
-.3 |
Primary and semifinished |
82.1 |
68.0 |
86.5 |
79.5 |
80.3 |
80.0 |
80.3 |
79.8 |
2.2 |
Finished |
77.9 |
71.1 |
83.1 |
74.0 |
76.3 |
77.1 |
76.8 |
76.7 |
.3 |
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 0.9 percent in April. The production of durable goods
dropped 2.1 percent, largely as a result of steep declines in the output of automotive products
and in the production of appliances, furniture, and carpeting. The index of consumer nondurable
goods fell 0.4 percent; a drop of 2.5 percent in the energy component more than offset gains
elsewhere. All categories of nondurable non-energy goods advanced except paper products.
The production of business equipment moved up 0.8 percent. The index for industrial
and other equipment and the index for information processing equipment each increased about
1.0 percent. The output of transit equipment fell 0.4 percent. The production of defense and
space equipment jumped 1.6 percent and was more than 9 percent above its year-ago level. In
April, the production of non-industrial supplies was, on balance, unchanged. The index of
construction supplies advanced 0.5 percent, and the output of business supplies moved down 0.2
percent.
The production of materials edged down 0.1 percent. The index for energy materials fell
0.6 percent, and the index for non-energy materials edged up 0.1 percent. In the durable
materials component, the output of consumer parts tumbled 2.4 percent; the output of other
materials also moved down. After little change in March, production of equipment parts rose 1.6
percent in April because of gains in the output of semiconductors and computer parts. Within
the nondurable category, the producers of paper materials and of chemical materials posted
gains; the output of textile materials declined 1.8 percent.
Industry Groups
Manufacturing production was unchanged in April, and the factory operating rate edged
down 0.1 percentage point, to 77.9 percent. Under durable goods, in which overall output was
also unchanged, the production of motor vehicles and parts fell 3.5 percent. The indexes for
wood products, primary metals, and furniture and related products also posted declines, but
production rose noticeably in machinery, computer and electronic products, and aerospace and
miscellaneous transportation equipment. The production of nondurable goods advanced 0.2
percent in April and the gains were widespread. The output of apparel and leather rose 0.9
percent, but this index was down 8.8 percent over the past twelve months. The production of
non-NAICS manufacturing (logging and publishing) decreased 0.8 percent; it had increased at an
annual rate of 10.9 percent in the first quarter.
The output of mines was unchanged in April; the operating rate in mining edged up 0.1
percentage point, to 88.9 percent. Oil and gas extraction ticked up after having increased at an
annual rate of 9.1 percent in the first quarter, but the output of coal mines fell 2.0 percent.
Decreases in the output of both electric and gas utilities contributed to a decline of 2.3 percent in
utility output and to a decline of 2 percentage points in the utilities operating rate, to 83.7
percent. Capacity utilization for industries in the crude stage of processing increased 0.3
percentage point, to 87.3 percent, a rate that is 0.9 percentage point above its 1972-2004 average.
However, the operating rate for industries in the primary and semifinished stages fell 0.5
percentage point, to 79.8 percent, and the utilization rate for finished goods producers declined
0.1 percentage point, to 76.7 percent. Capacity utilization in both these industry groups
remained below their respective long-run averages.
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
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)
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