Revision of Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization

The Federal Reserve Board released its annual revision to the index of industrial production (IP) and the related measures of capacity and capacity utilization on June 25, 2010. In this revision, the base year for the IP index was advanced from 2002 to 2007, which lowered the level of the IP index for most periods. In addition to the new base, the revised IP indexes incorporated detailed data from the 2007 Economic Census and the 2008 Annual Survey of Manufactures, both conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. Data from selected editions of the Census Bureau's 2008 and 2009 Current Industrial Reports have also been incorporated along with annual data from the U.S. Geological Survey regarding metallic and nonmetallic minerals (except fuels) for 2008. The revised indexes reflect updated price deflators from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. For this release, monthly indicators (either product data or input data) were revised, and the estimation methods for some series were changed. The new monthly production estimates reflect the incorporation of updated seasonal factors and monthly and quarterly source data that became available (or were revised) after the closing of the reporting window. Capacity and capacity utilization were revised to incorporate data from the Census Bureau's Quarterly Survey of Plant Capacity for the fourth quarters of 2008 and 2009, which covered manufacturing, along with new data on capacity from the U.S. Geological Survey, the Department of Energy, and other organizations.

The published revision release is available on the Board's website at www.federalreserve.gov/releases/G17. The revised data are also available through the website of the Department of Commerce. Further information on the revision can be obtained from the Board's Industrial Output Section (telephone number 202-452-3197).