INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION
[Annual Revision Notice Below]
Industrial production decreased 0.6 percent in November with declines widespread across industries. The drop in output in September was revised down, and the rebound in October was revised up, in large part because both the decrease due to the September hurricanes and the subsequent partial recovery in October were larger than previously reported.
Manufacturing production dropped 1.4 percent in November despite the resumption of activity in the commercial aircraft industry after the resolution of a strike early in the month. The output of mines advanced 2.5 percent, primarily as a result of a further post-hurricane recovery in crude oil and natural gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico. Taken together, the rebounds after the strike and the hurricanes added almost 1 percentage point to the change in industrial production. The output of utilities rose 1.6 percent.
At 106.1 percent of its 2002 average, total industrial production in November was 5.5 percent below its
level of a year earlier. The capacity utilization rate for total industry fell to 75.4 percent, a level
5.6 percentage points below its average level from 1972 to 2007.
Industrial production |
2002=100 | Percent change | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2008 | 2008 | Nov. '07 to Nov. '08 |
|||||||||||
June[r] | July[r] | Aug.[r] | Sept.[r] | Oct.[r] | Nov.[p] | June[r] | July[r] | Aug.[r] | Sept.[r] | Oct.[r] | Nov.[p] | ||
Total index | 111.3 | 111.3 | 109.8 | 105.2 | 106.8 | 106.1 | .1 | .0 | -1.3 | -4.1 | 1.5 | -.6 | -5.5 |
Previous estimates | 111.3 | 111.4 | 110.1 | 105.9 | 107.3 | .1 | .1 | -1.2 | -3.7 | 1.3 | |||
Major market groups | |||||||||||||
Final Products | 112.5 | 112.3 | 110.5 | 107.6 | 108.2 | 108.3 | .3 | -.2 | -1.6 | -2.7 | .6 | .1 | -4.4 |
Consumer goods | 106.2 | 106.2 | 103.9 | 102.4 | 104.0 | 103.3 | .4 | .0 | -2.1 | -1.4 | 1.5 | -.7 | -3.9 |
Business equipment | 130.4 | 129.8 | 129.3 | 119.9 | 116.8 | 120.6 | .0 | -.4 | -.4 | -7.3 | -2.6 | 3.2 | -7.4 |
Nonindustrial supplies | 105.7 | 105.8 | 104.9 | 102.2 | 102.5 | 100.8 | -.4 | .1 | -.8 | -2.6 | .2 | -1.6 | -6.6 |
Construction | 101.3 | 101.9 | 100.9 | 99.0 | 97.6 | 94.4 | -.5 | .6 | -1.0 | -1.9 | -1.4 | -3.3 | -9.7 |
Materials | 112.1 | 112.2 | 110.7 | 104.2 | 107.0 | 106.0 | -.1 | .1 | -1.3 | -5.9 | 2.7 | -1.0 | -6.2 |
Major industry groups | |||||||||||||
Manufacturing (see note below) | 112.1 | 111.9 | 110.8 | 106.3 | 107.0 | 105.5 | -.2 | -.1 | -1.1 | -4.0 | .6 | -1.4 | -7.3 |
Previous estimates | 112.2 | 112.1 | 111.0 | 106.9 | 107.5 | -.1 | -.1 | -1.0 | -3.7 | .6 | |||
Mining | 104.2 | 105.7 | 105.1 | 95.1 | 102.0 | 104.6 | .1 | 1.4 | -.6 | -9.5 | 7.2 | 2.5 | 1.6 |
Utilities | 110.0 | 108.9 | 103.9 | 106.4 | 107.1 | 108.8 | 1.9 | -1.0 | -4.6 | 2.4 | .7 | 1.6 | -.2 |
Capacity utilization |
Percent of capacity |
Capacity growth |
|||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Average 1972- 2007 |
1988- 89 high |
1990- 91 low |
1994- 95 high |
2001- 02 low |
2007 Nov. |
||||||||
2008 | Nov. '07 to Nov. '08 |
||||||||||||
June[r] | July[r] | Aug.[r] | Sept.[r] | Oct.[r] | Nov.[p] | ||||||||
Total industry | 81.0 | 85.0 | 78.6 | 85.1 | 73.6 | 81.1 | 79.6 | 79.5 | 78.3 | 75.0 | 76.0 | 75.4 | 1.5 |
Previous estimates | 79.6 | 79.6 | 78.5 | 75.5 | 76.4 | ||||||||
Manufacturing (see note below) | 79.7 | 85.4 | 77.1 | 84.6 | 71.5 | 79.3 | 77.3 | 77.1 | 76.2 | 73.1 | 73.4 | 72.3 | 1.7 |
Previous estimates | 77.4 | 77.2 | 76.4 | 73.5 | 73.8 | ||||||||
Mining | 87.5 | 86.3 | 83.6 | 88.7 | 84.8 | 90.0 | 90.9 | 92.1 | 91.5 | 82.8 | 88.7 | 90.9 | .7 |
Utilities | 86.8 | 92.7 | 84.1 | 93.9 | 84.6 | 86.3 | 85.9 | 84.9 | 80.9 | 82.7 | 83.1 | 84.3 | 2.2 |
Stage-of-process groups | |||||||||||||
Crude | 86.6 | 88.3 | 84.4 | 89.5 | 81.9 | 89.5 | 88.8 | 89.8 | 89.3 | 79.4 | 85.6 | 86.0 | .5 |
Primary and semifinished | 82.2 | 86.4 | 77.8 | 88.2 | 74.6 | 81.5 | 79.6 | 79.2 | 77.7 | 75.4 | 75.9 | 74.6 | 1.9 |
Finished | 77.7 | 82.8 | 77.1 | 80.4 | 69.9 | 77.5 | 76.1 | 75.8 | 74.8 | 73.0 | 72.4 | 72.4 | 1.8 |
Market Groups
The production of consumer goods decreased 0.7 percent in November. The output of consumer durables fell 3.0 percent, while the output of consumer nondurables edged down 0.1 percent. Among consumer durable goods, the decreases in production were broadly based: Automotive products dropped 2.6 percent; appliances, furniture, and carpeting fell 4.0 percent; home electronics moved down 1.7 percent; and miscellaneous goods declined 3.4 percent. Among consumer nondurable goods, the production of consumer energy products edged up 0.2 percent. The index for non-energy nondurable consumer goods declined 0.2 percent, as the output of paper products decreased 0.6 percent and the other major components recorded smaller losses.
The output of business equipment rose 3.2 percent in November. The production of transit equipment jumped more than 40 percent after having plunged in September and October because of the strike in the commercial aircraft industry. The index for industrial and other equipment moved down about 2 percent for a third consecutive month; this index now stands nearly 7 percent below its year-earlier level. The index for information processing equipment declined 0.7 percent, its sixth consecutive monthly decrease.
The output of defense and space equipment edged down 0.1 percent in November and was 2.1 percent below its year-earlier level.
Among nonindustrial supplies, the production of construction supplies decreased 3.3 percent in November, partly because of drops in concrete and product, stone mining and quarrying, and architectural and structural metals. The index for business supplies fell 1.0 percent and was 5.4 percent below its year-earlier level.
The output of materials declined 1.0 percent in November. The continued recovery in natural gas and crude oil extraction after the September hurricanes contributed to an increase of 2.8 percent in the production of energy materials. The production of durable materials dropped 3.0 percent, and the production of nondurable materials slumped 3.3 percent. All major components of durable and nondurable materials registered large declines.
Industry Groups
Manufacturing output fell 1.4 percent in November. The factory operating rate moved down to 72.3 percent, a level that was 7.4 percentage points below its 1972-2007 average. The index for durable goods industries decreased 1.3 percent, with declines widespread among its components. The largest drop among major industries was in primary metals, which fell more than 7 percent for a second straight month, mainly because of lower output at steel mills. Only the index for aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment moved up, but this gain of 12.8 percent reflected the return to work after the strike at a major commercial aircraft producer. The production of nondurable goods fell 1.6 percent. Among nondurables, the largest decline was seen in chemicals, which fell 3.6 percent. Other industries with declines of at least 2 percent included textile and product mills, plastics and rubber products, and paper.
The index for the other manufacturing category, which consists of publishing and logging, moved down 0.6 percent in November.
Capacity utilization rates in November at industries grouped by stage of process were as follows: For the crude stage, utilization increased 0.4 percentage point, to 86.0 percent, a rate 0.6 percentage point below its 1972-2007 average; for the primary and semifinished stages, utilization moved down 1.3 percentage points, to 74.6 percent, a rate 7.6 percentage points below its long-run average; and for the finished stage, utilization was unchanged at 72.4 percent, a rate 5.3 percentage points below its long-run average.
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 |