INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION
Industrial production decreased 0.5 percent in January after an increase of 0.5 percent in
December. Output in the manufacturing sector declined 0.7 percent in January; about one-half of the
decrease was a result of a drop of 6 percent in motor vehicles and parts. The output of utilities
rebounded 2.3 percent, as temperatures moved back toward seasonal norms, while the output of mines moved
down 1.2 percent. At 111.9 percent of its 2002 average, overall industrial output for the month was 2.6
percent above its January 2006 level. The rate of capacity utilization in January fell 0.6 percentage
point, to 81.2 percent. Even so, it was 0.1 percentage point above its year-earlier level and 0.2
percentage point above its 1972-2006 average.
Industrial production |
2002=100 | Percent change | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | 2007 Jan. |
2006 | 2007 Jan. |
Jan. '06 to Jan. '07 |
|||||
Oct. | Nov. | Dec. | Oct. | Nov. | Dec. | ||||
Total index | 112.0 | 111.9 | 112.5 | 111.9 | -.2 | -.1 | .5 | -.5 | 2.6 |
Previous estimates | 112.1 | 112.0 | 112.4 | -.1 | -.1 | .4 | |||
Major market groups | |||||||||
Final Products | 112.4 | 112.7 | 113.5 | 113.0 | -.2 | .3 | .7 | -.4 | 3.4 |
Consumer goods | 107.3 | 107.6 | 107.7 | 107.5 | -.3 | .2 | .1 | -.2 | 1.7 |
Business equipment | 128.4 | 129.3 | 132.3 | 130.1 | -.1 | .8 | 2.3 | -1.6 | 8.7 |
Nonindustrial supplies | 110.9 | 110.3 | 111.0 | 110.7 | .2 | -.6 | .7 | -.3 | 1.1 |
Construction | 108.4 | 107.4 | 109.3 | 108.2 | -1.7 | -.9 | 1.8 | -1.0 | -2.8 |
Materials | 112.0 | 111.6 | 112.0 | 111.3 | -.2 | -.3 | .4 | -.6 | 2.3 |
Major industry groups | |||||||||
Manufacturing (see note below) | 113.4 | 113.4 | 114.3 | 113.5 | -.8 | -.1 | .8 | -.7 | 1.8 |
Previous estimates | 113.6 | 113.5 | 114.3 | -.6 | .0 | .7 | |||
Mining | 100.9 | 100.7 | 102.2 | 101.0 | -.1 | -.2 | 1.4 | -1.2 | 2.3 |
Utilities | 109.8 | 109.2 | 106.3 | 108.7 | 5.0 | -.5 | -2.7 | 2.3 | 10.1 |
Capacity utilization |
Percent of capacity |
Capacity growth Jan. '06 to Jan. '07 |
|||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Average 1972-2006 |
1994-95 High |
2001-02 Low |
2006 Jan. |
2006 | 2007 Jan. |
||||
Oct. | Nov. | Dec. | |||||||
Total industry | 81.0 | 85.1 | 73.6 | 81.1 | 81.7 | 81.5 | 81.8 | 81.2 | 2.4 |
Previous estimates | 81.8 | 81.6 | 81.8 | ||||||
Manufacturing (see note below) | 79.8 | 84.6 | 71.6 | 80.3 | 80.1 | 79.9 | 80.4 | 79.6 | 2.6 |
Previous estimates | 80.2 | 80.0 | 80.4 | ||||||
Mining | 87.4 | 88.9 | 84.8 | 89.5 | 91.0 | 90.7 | 91.9 | 90.8 | .8 |
Utilities | 86.7 | 93.7 | 83.8 | 80.4 | 88.0 | 87.3 | 84.8 | 86.6 | 2.3 |
Stage-of-process groups | |||||||||
Crude | 86.5 | 89.5 | 82.0 | 87.4 | 89.1 | 88.8 | 89.4 | 88.5 | .4 |
Primary and semifinished | 82.2 | 88.2 | 74.6 | 83.1 | 83.3 | 82.5 | 82.5 | 82.4 | 3.0 |
Finished | 77.8 | 80.5 | 70.0 | 76.7 | 77.6 | 78.0 | 78.6 | 77.6 | 2.2 |
Market Groups
All major market groups recorded decreases in January. The output of consumer goods edged down 0.2 percent; a drop in consumer durables more than offset an increase in consumer nondurables. Among durables, the output of automotive products retreated 4.4 percent; smaller losses were recorded in miscellaneous consumer durables and in appliances, furniture, and carpeting, but the output of home electronics rose. The increase in consumer nondurables was the result of a jump of 3.9 percent in residential energy sales. The output of non-energy nondurables decreased 0.5 percent; an 0.8 percent drop in the production of foods and tobacco and a 0.6 percent decline in chemical production outweighed gains in the production of clothing and of paper products.
The output of business equipment fell 1.6 percent in January; declines in transit equipment and in industrial and other equipment more than offset an increase of 0.9 percent in information processing. A large decrease in truck assemblies held down production in transit equipment despite a further gain in commercial aircraft. Lower production of construction equipment and of farm machinery contributed to a drop of 2.8 percent in the index for industrial and other equipment, which left it at about the same level as in November. The output of defense and space equipment increased 1.2 percent.
The output of construction supplies fell 1 percent in January after an upwardly revised gain of 1.8 percent in December; production in January was 2.8 percent below its year-earlier level. The output of business supplies edged up in January for a second consecutive month. The production of non-energy materials dropped in January, while the output of energy materials was unchanged. Within non-energy durables, the production of both durable and nondurable materials fell. Declines in indexes related to motor vehicle parts contributed to the drop of 3.7 percent for consumer parts; the production of other durables was pulled down by production declines in metals and lower output in stone mining and quarrying and in sand and gravel mining.
Industry Groups
Manufacturing production decreased 0.7 percent in January; the factory operating rate, at 79.6 percent, was the lowest manufacturing utilization rate since October 2005. The production of durable goods decreased 1.3 percent in January despite gains of more than 1 percent for computer and electronic products and for aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment. Declines of 0.5 percent or more were registered in wood products, nonmetallic mineral products, primary metal, machinery, motor vehicles and parts, and miscellaneous manufacturing. The production of nondurable manufacturing edged down 0.2 percent in January and was just 0.3 percent above its year-ago level. Declines occurred in textile and product mills, paper, printing and support, and chemical production. Apparel and leather, petroleum and coal, and plastics and rubber registered increases. Production in the non-NAICS manufacturing industries (logging and publishing) gained 0.5 percent after a decline of 1.3 percent in December.
The output of natural gas utilities jumped 10.8 percent in January after two consecutive months of
large decreases; the output of electric utilities rose 0.8 percent. Mining production decreased 1.2
percent; declines occurred in oil and gas extraction, coal mining, and nonmetallic mineral mining.
Capacity utilization for industries in the crude stage of processing decreased nearly 1 percentage point,
to 88.5 percent, a rate that is 2 percentage points above its 1972-2006 average. Capacity utilization for
industries in the primary and semifinished stages edged down 0.1 percentage point, to 82.4 percent, and
capacity utilization at the finished stage decreased 1.0 percentage point, to 77.6 percent.
Capacity Notice
The data in this release include preliminary estimates of industrial capacity for 2007. Total industrial capacity is projected to rise 2.1 percent in 2007 after having expanded 2.4 percent in 2006. Manufacturing capacity, which is estimated to increase 2.4 percent this year, also decelerates relative to 2006. The slower rates of increase for both manufacturing and total industrial capacity reflect a decline in manufacturing capacity for motor vehicles and parts. Excluding motor vehicles and parts, manufacturing capacity is estimated to expand 2.9 percent in 2007, slightly faster than in 2006. Mining capacity is estimated to increase 0.7 percent in 2007, about the same as in 2006, and utilities capacity is projected to expand 1.3 percent, about 0.8 percentage point slower than in 2006.
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 |