INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION
Industrial output rose 0.8 percent in August, following an upwardly revised increase of 1.0 percent in
July. Production in manufacturing expanded 0.6 percent in August, and the index excluding motor vehicles
and parts increased 0.4 percent. The gain in July for manufacturing was revised up 0.4 percentage point,
to 1.4 percent; in addition, factory output for April through June is now somewhat less weak than reported
previously. Production at mines moved up 0.5 percent in August. The output of utilities gained 1.9
percent, as temperatures swung from an unseasonably mild July to a slightly warmer-than-usual August. At
97.4 percent of its 2002 average, total industrial production was 10.7 percent below its level of a year
earlier. In August, the capacity utilization rate for total industry advanced to 69.6 percent, a level
11.3 percentage points below its average for the period 1972 through 2008.
Industrial production |
2002=100 | Percent change | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | 2009 | Aug. '08 to Aug. '09 |
|||||||||||
Mar.[r] | Apr.[r] | May[r] | June[r] | July[r] | Aug.[p] | Mar.[r] | Apr.[r] | May[r] | June[r] | July[r] | Aug.[p] | ||
Total index | 97.7 | 97.2 | 96.1 | 95.8 | 96.7 | 97.4 | -1.6 | -.6 | -1.1 | -.4 | 1.0 | .8 | -10.7 |
Previous estimates | 97.7 | 97.0 | 95.9 | 95.5 | 96.0 | -1.6 | -.7 | -1.1 | -.4 | .5 | |||
Major market groups | |||||||||||||
Final Products | 101.6 | 100.7 | 99.4 | 99.0 | 99.9 | 101.0 | -1.1 | -.9 | -1.2 | -.4 | .9 | 1.1 | -7.3 |
Consumer goods | 98.3 | 97.7 | 96.7 | 96.4 | 97.1 | 98.4 | -.4 | -.6 | -1.0 | -.4 | .8 | 1.3 | -4.1 |
Business equipment | 110.6 | 108.7 | 106.4 | 105.9 | 107.0 | 107.6 | -2.6 | -1.7 | -2.1 | -.5 | 1.1 | .6 | -14.7 |
Nonindustrial supplies | 91.4 | 91.1 | 90.4 | 90.5 | 90.7 | 91.1 | -1.9 | -.4 | -.8 | .1 | .2 | .4 | -13.2 |
Construction | 82.7 | 82.0 | 82.0 | 82.0 | 82.5 | 82.5 | -2.3 | -.9 | .1 | .0 | .7 | .0 | -18.5 |
Materials | 96.5 | 96.2 | 95.2 | 94.7 | 95.9 | 96.4 | -2.0 | -.3 | -1.0 | -.5 | 1.3 | .6 | -13.0 |
Major industry groups | |||||||||||||
Manufacturing (see note below) | 96.1 | 95.6 | 94.7 | 94.4 | 95.7 | 96.3 | -1.7 | -.5 | -.9 | -.3 | 1.4 | .6 | -12.2 |
Previous estimates | 96.0 | 95.4 | 94.4 | 93.9 | 94.8 | -1.7 | -.7 | -1.0 | -.6 | 1.0 | |||
Mining | 98.7 | 96.1 | 95.0 | 94.1 | 94.7 | 95.2 | -2.6 | -2.7 | -1.1 | -.9 | .6 | .5 | -10.5 |
Utilities | 106.1 | 106.4 | 104.3 | 103.8 | 102.2 | 104.1 | -.3 | .3 | -2.0 | -.5 | -1.6 | 1.9 | -.1 |
Capacity utilization |
Percent of capacity |
Capacity growth |
|||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Average 1972- 2008 |
1988- 89 high |
1990- 91 low |
1994- 95 high |
2001- 02 low |
2008 Aug. |
||||||||
2009 | Aug. '08 to Aug. '09 |
||||||||||||
Mar.[r] | Apr.[r] | May[r] | June[r] | July[r] | Aug.[p] | ||||||||
Total industry | 80.9 | 85.1 | 78.7 | 84.9 | 73.5 | 77.6 | 69.5 | 69.2 | 68.5 | 68.3 | 69.0 | 69.6 | -.5 |
Previous estimates | 69.5 | 69.0 | 68.3 | 68.1 | 68.5 | ||||||||
Manufacturing (see note below) | 79.6 | 85.4 | 77.2 | 84.5 | 71.4 | 75.3 | 66.0 | 65.7 | 65.2 | 65.1 | 66.1 | 66.6 | -.7 |
Previous estimates | 65.9 | 65.6 | 65.0 | 64.7 | 65.4 | ||||||||
Mining | 87.6 | 86.5 | 83.8 | 89.1 | 84.9 | 91.8 | 84.9 | 82.7 | 81.8 | 81.1 | 81.7 | 82.2 | -.1 |
Utilities | 86.8 | 92.8 | 84.2 | 93.3 | 84.2 | 80.2 | 80.8 | 80.9 | 79.2 | 78.7 | 77.3 | 78.7 | 1.8 |
Stage-of-process groups | |||||||||||||
Crude | 86.6 | 88.3 | 84.7 | 89.9 | 81.7 | 88.3 | 79.5 | 79.4 | 79.5 | 79.5 | 80.0 | 80.7 | -.6 |
Primary and semifinished | 82.0 | 86.5 | 77.9 | 87.9 | 74.3 | 77.1 | 67.1 | 66.9 | 65.9 | 65.8 | 66.3 | 66.7 | -.7 |
Finished | 77.7 | 83.0 | 77.2 | 80.3 | 70.0 | 73.7 | 68.2 | 67.6 | 67.0 | 66.7 | 67.7 | 68.5 | .0 |
Market Groups
The output of consumer goods strengthened 1.3 percent in August, as the production indexes for both durables and nondurables climbed. The gain in consumer durables was the result of an increase in automotive products. The indexes for the other major categories of durables registered losses: Home electronics fell 1.4 percent; appliances, furniture, and carpeting declined 0.8 percent; and miscellaneous goods decreased 1.0 percent. The output of nondurable consumer goods rose 1.1 percent because of advances in both the energy and non-energy sectors. The index for non-energy consumer nondurable goods jumped 1.2 percent, with gains in all of its major components. The production indexes for foods and tobacco and for clothing moved up more than 1.5 percent, while the indexes for chemical products and for paper products recorded smaller gains. The production of consumer energy goods increased 0.8 percent.
The index for business equipment rose 0.6 percent in August, following a gain of 1.1 percent in July. Within business equipment, the output of transit equipment increased 2.3 percent in August, and the output of industrial and other equipment rose 0.8 percent; these gains more than offset a decline of 0.8 percent in information processing equipment. The output of transit equipment was boosted by advances in motor vehicles and aircraft. The decrease in the production of information processing equipment principally resulted from declines in electromedical equipment and in search and navigation equipment. The index for defense and space equipment was unchanged, following a gain of nearly 2 percent in July.
After a revised increase of 0.7 percent in July, the output of construction supplies was unchanged in August. The index for business supplies advanced 0.6, percent primarily as a result of a gain in sales by utilities to commercial businesses.
The production of materials rose 0.6 percent, with gains in nondurable and energy materials outweighing a small loss in durables. Within the category of durable materials, equipment parts fell 0.4 percent, consumer parts slipped 0.2 percent, and other durable materials inched up 0.1 percent. Nondurable materials increased 0.8 percent with the advances widespread; the indexes for textiles, paper, and chemical materials all rose. Energy materials increased 1.2 percent; a gain in electricity generation accounted for almost 1 percentage point of the advance.
Industry Groups
Production in manufacturing expanded 0.6 percent in August, and the factory operating rate increased to 66.6 percent, a rate 13.0 percentage points below its 1972-2008 average. The upward revision to manufacturing production in July was led by output gains for steel products and high-tech products that were stronger than previously reported, while much of the upward revision for April through June reflected higher production of chemicals. The output of durable goods moved up 0.5 percent in August. The index for motor vehicles and parts advanced 5.5 percent, after increasing 20.1 percent in July. Nevertheless, in August this index stood more than 20 percent below its year-earlier level. Primary metals; machinery; electrical equipment, appliances, and components; and miscellaneous manufacturing all posted gains between 1/2 and 1 percent. However, the output of nonmetallic mineral products dropped 1.9 percent, and the indexes for wood products and for computer and electronic products both contracted 0.8 percent. The output of nondurable goods rose 0.7 percent, with mixed results across components. The index for food, beverage, and tobacco products expanded 1.6 percent. Less sizable gains were recorded for textile and product mills, apparel and leather, chemicals, and plastics and rubber products. The indexes for paper and for printing and related support activities each edged down 0.2 percent, while the index for petroleum and coal products fell 0.5 percent because of lower refinery output.
The index for other manufacturing (non-NAICS), which consists of publishing and logging, rose 0.9 percent in August.
The index for utilities increased 1.9 percent, primarily as a result of a gain in the output of electricity. The operating rate for utilities climbed 1.4 percentage points, to 78.7 percent. Mining production moved up 0.5 percent, and the utilization rate rose to 82.2 percent, a rate 5.4 percentage points below its 1972-2008 average.
Capacity utilization rates at industries grouped by stage of process were as follows: For the crude
stage, utilization increased 0.7 percentage point, to 80.7 percent, a rate nearly 6 percentage points below
its 1972-2008 average; for the primary and semifinished stages, utilization moved up 0.4 percentage point,
to 66.7 percent, a rate 15.3 percentage points below its long-run average; and for the finished stage,
utilization increased 0.8 percentage point, to 68.5 percent, a rate 9.2 percentage points below its
long-run average.
Note: This release includes the G.17 publication schedule for 2010.
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 |