Federal Reserve Statistical Release, G.17, Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization; title with eagle logo links to Statistical Release home page
Release Date: February 15, 2006
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INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION

Industrial production decreased 0.2 percent in January after upwardly revised gains of 0.9 percent in December and 1.1 percent in November. The output of utilities plummeted 10.1 percent in January as a result of the unseasonably warm temperatures. This drop is the largest monthly decline recorded in the thirty-four-year history of the index. Elsewhere, however, production expanded in January. Mining output climbed 1.7 percent, and manufacturing production rose 0.7 percent after increases of 0.5 percent in December and 0.7 percent in November; the gains in manufacturing in November and December have both been revised up 0.3 percentage point. At 110.3 percent of its 2002 average, overall industrial output in January was 3.1 percent above its January 2005 level. Because of the drop in utilities output, the rate of capacity utilization for total industry decreased 0.3 percentage point, to 80.9 percent, just below its 1972-2005 average. Capacity utilization in manufacturing moved up in January to 80.5 percent, a rate 0.7 percentage point above its 1972-2005 average.

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION: SUMMARY
Seasonally adjusted
 
 
Industrial production
2002=100 Percent change
2005 2006
Jan.
2005 2006
Jan.
Jan. '05 to
Jan. '06
Oct. Nov. Dec. Oct. Nov. Dec.
                   
Total index  108.4  109.5  110.5  110.3    1.1    1.1     .9    -.2    3.1
   Previous estimates  108.2  109.1  109.8          1.0     .8     .6    
                   
Major market groups                  
Final Products  111.5  111.7  112.1  111.9    1.9     .2     .3    -.1    4.3
   Consumer goods  106.5  105.9  106.2  105.8     .1    -.5     .3    -.4    1.8
   Business equipment  123.1  125.5  126.3  127.5    7.0    2.0     .7     .9   10.7
Nonindustrial supplies  109.6  110.4  111.2  110.1    1.1     .8     .7   -1.0    3.4
   Construction  112.4  113.5  113.5  113.5    2.3    1.1     .0     .0    7.1
Materials  104.9  107.1  108.8  108.6     .4    2.1    1.6    -.1    1.8
                   
Major industry groups                  
Manufacturing (see note below)  110.9  111.7  112.2  113.0    1.8     .7     .5     .7    4.5
   Previous estimates  110.9  111.4  111.6          1.8     .4     .2    
Mining   89.1   93.9   96.5   98.1   -1.3    5.4    2.8    1.7   -1.8
Utilities  105.9  106.2  109.2   98.1   -2.0     .3    2.8  -10.1   -4.7


 
 
 
Capacity utilization
 
Percent of capacity
Capacity
growth
Jan. '05 to
Jan. '06
Average
1972-2005
1994-95
High
2001-02
Low
2005
Jan.
2005 2006
Jan.
Oct. Nov. Dec.
                   
Total industry   81.0   85.0   73.9   79.8   79.9   80.6   81.2   80.9    1.7
   Previous estimates                           79.8   80.3   80.7            
                   
Manufacturing (see note below)   79.8   84.5   72.0   78.6   79.4   79.8   80.1   80.5    2.2
   Previous estimates                           79.5   79.6   79.6            
Mining   87.3   89.0   85.6   88.9   79.6   83.9   86.2   87.7    -.4
Utilities   86.7   93.7   83.7   83.7   86.2   86.5   89.0   79.9    -.2
                   
Stage-of-process groups                  
Crude   86.4   89.4   83.2   88.2   78.2   82.4   84.6   86.2    -.8
Primary and semifinished   82.1   88.1   74.6   81.7   82.2   82.7   83.3   81.8    2.6
Finished   77.9   80.5   70.8   75.6   78.2   78.2   78.3   78.8    1.3

Market Groups

The output of consumer goods moved down 0.4 percent in January; a drop of 7.0 percent in the production of nondurable consumer energy goods more than accounted for the decline. The production of consumer durables increased 1.3 percent and was bolstered by jumps in the indexes for home electronics; appliances, furniture, and carpeting; and automotive products. The output of non-energy nondurable consumer goods advanced 0.6 percent. The indexes for paper products, chemical products, clothing, and foods and tobacco all moved up for the second month in a row.

The production of business equipment rose 0.9 percent to a level that was 10.7 percent above its year-ago level. All of the major categories of business equipment contributed significantly to the overall increase; the largest increase, of 2.6 percent, was in transit equipment. After three months of increases, the index for defense and space equipment declined 0.7 percent and now stands nearly 8 percent above its year-ago level. Production of business supplies fell 1.4 percent, held down by a drop in commercial energy products; production of non-energy business supplies increased 0.8 percent. The index for construction supplies was unchanged for a second consecutive month after three months of large increases.

The production of industrial materials inched down in January. A drop of 1.3 percent in the output of energy materials was mostly offset by a gain of 0.5 percent in the output of nondurable materials and an increase of 0.4 percent in durable materials; the indexes for equipment parts, consumer parts, chemicals, and textiles all rose.

Industry Groups

Manufacturing production increased 0.7 percent in January and was 4.5 percent higher than it was in January 2005. The factory operating rate, at 80.5 percent, was the highest since July 2000. The output of durable goods rose 0.7 percent; significant increases were registered in electrical equipment, appliances, and components; motor vehicles and parts; and miscellaneous manufacturing. Durable goods industries with decreases in output in January included wood products, machinery, and primary metals. The production of nondurable goods rose 0.7 percent. Industries with output gains of 1 percent or more were petroleum and coal products, textile and product mills, and chemicals. Food, beverage, and tobacco products; printing and support; and plastics and rubber products posted small gains. Paper was the only nondurable industry with decreased output; production in this industry reversed some of the previous month�s gain. Production in the non-NAICS manufacturing industries (logging and publishing) rose 1.0 percent after a gain of 0.8 percent in December.

Capacity utilization for industries in the crude stage of processing rose 1.6 percentage points, to 86.2 percent, a rate just 0.2 percentage point below its 1972-2005 average. For industries in the primary and semifinished stages, the utilization rate declined 1.5 percentage points, to 81.8 percent, as a result of the drop in utilities output. For finished goods producers, the utilization rate increased 0.5 percentage point, to 78.8 percent, a rate that is nearly 1 percentage point above its 1972-2005 average of 77.9 percent.

Notice

The data in this release include preliminary estimates of industrial capacity for 2006. Total industrial capacity is projected to expand 2.0 percent in 2006, nearly one-half percentage point faster than in 2005 but considerably less than the average gain of 3.4 percent over the past ten years. Manufacturing capacity is estimated to rise 2.5 percent after having expanded 2.1 percent in 2005; this acceleration primarily reflects a step-up in the pace of expansion outside of the high-technology industries. In 2006, as a result of small gains in electricity-generating capability, capacity at utilities is expected to increase 0.7 percent after being unchanged in 2005. Capacity at mines is expected to contract 0.9 percent.

Note. The statistics in this release cover output, capacity, and capacity utilization in the U.S. industrial sector, which is defined by the Federal Reserve to comprise manufacturing, mining, and electric and gas utilities. Mining is defined as all industries in sector 21 of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS); electric and gas utilities are those in NAICS sectors 2211 and 2212. Manufacturing comprises NAICS manufacturing industries (sector 31-33) plus the logging industry and the newspaper, periodical, book, and directory publishing industries. Logging and publishing are classified elsewhere in NAICS (under agriculture and information respectively), but historically they were considered to be manufacturing and were included in the industrial sector under the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. In December 2002 the Federal Reserve reclassified all its industrial output data from the SIC system to NAICS.

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: Historical Statistics for IP, Capacity, and Utilization: Total Industry
Ascii Screen reader Table 12: Historical Statistics for IP, Capacity, and Utilization: Manufacturing
Ascii Screen reader Table 13: Historical Statistics for IP, Capacity, and Utilization: Total Industry excluding Selected High-Technology Industries
Ascii Screen reader Table 14: 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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