Release Date: June 15, 2005 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)
Market Groups
The output of consumer goods increased 0.5 percent in May. The production of durable consumer goods rose 0.9 percent, as the output of automotive products and of appliances, furniture, and carpeting recovered in part from their sharp declines in April. The index of consumer nondurable goods advanced 0.4 percent and was led by gains in the output of paper products and of food and tobacco; the output of clothing fell 2.3 percent. The production of consumer energy products edged down 0.1 percent. The production of business equipment moved up 0.8 percent; the increase was led by a rise of 1.9 percent in the index for information processing equipment. The output of industrial and other equipment advanced 0.4 percent, and the production of transit equipment was unchanged. Continuing a recent series of strong gains, defense and space equipment production advanced 1.1 percent in May. The production of non-industrial supplies edged up 0.2 percent for the month. The index of construction supplies advanced 0.3 percent, and the output of business supplies rose 0.1 percent. Materials output advanced 0.3 percent. The index for non-energy materials rose 0.5 percent, and the index for energy materials edged down 0.1 percent. Within durable materials, increases in the output of equipment parts and of other materials more than offset further declines in the output of consumer parts. Within the nondurable category, all major components posted gains. The output of paper materials rose 1.1 percent after a large decline in April. Industry Groups
Manufacturing output increased 0.6 percent in May, and the factory operating rate rose 0.3 percentage point, to 78.2 percent. Among durable goods, declines in the production of miscellaneous manufacturing and in the production of furniture and related products were more than offset by gains in other durable goods categories. The production of computer and electronic products advanced 2.1 percent, in part as a result of a jump of 3.6 percent in the production of communications equipment. The indexes for wood products; primary metals; fabricated metal products; machinery; electrical equipment, appliances and components; and aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment also posted gains. The production of motor vehicles and parts was unchanged after substantial declines in March and April; vehicle assemblies edged down to an annual rate of 11.4 million units. The output of nondurable goods advanced 0.4 percent. All categories reported solid gains except plastics and rubber products, which decreased 0.4 percent, and apparel and leather, which fell 1.9 percent. The production of non-NAICS manufacturing (logging and publishing) advanced 1.0 percent. The output of mines edged up 0.1 percent, and the operating rate in mining rose 0.2 percentage point, to 88.5 percent. The output of coal mines posted a decrease of 1.6 percent, a second consecutive drop; offsetting increases came from oil and gas extraction, metal ore mining, and nonmetallic mineral mining. The output of utilities fell 0.7 percent, and the operating rate for utilities fell 0.7 percentage point, to 83.4 percent. Capacity utilization rose for all stages of processing. The operating rate for industries in the crude stage increased 0.4 percentage point, to 87.0 percent, a rate that is 0.6 percentage point above its 1972-2004 average. Capacity utilization for industries in the primary and semifinished stages edged up 0.1 percentage point, to 80.0 percent, and the utilization rate for finished-goods producers rose 0.4 percentage point, to 77.1 percent. Capacity utilization in the primary and semifinished group and in the finished-goods group remained below their respective long-run averages. Notice: This release includes updated estimates of industrial capacity in 2005. The estimated rate of change in total industrial capacity between the fourth quarter of 2004 and the fourth quarter of 2005 was revised down 0.1 percentage point, to a gain of 1.2 percent; the estimated rate of change in manufacturing capacity was revised down similarly. G.17 Release Tables:
Release dates | Historical data | Documentation |