Federal Reserve Statistical Release, G.17, Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization; title with eagle logo links to Statistical Release home page
Release Date: November 16, 2010
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INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION
[Annual Revision Notice Below]

Industrial production was unchanged in October after having fallen 0.2 percent in September. For the manufacturing sector, output gained 0.5 percent in October after having risen 0.1 percent in September. Factory production in September was initially reported to have decreased 0.2 percent, but incoming data on steel, fabricated metal products, machinery, and chemicals helped boost the index. The output of utilities dropped 3.4 percent in October, as unseasonably warm temperatures reduced demand for heating. Production at mines fell 0.1 percent. At 93.4 percent of its 2007 average, total industrial production in October was 5.3 percent above its year-earlier level. The capacity utilization rate for total industry was flat at 74.8 percent, a rate 6.6 percentage points above the low in June 2009 and 5.8 percentage points below its average from 1972 to 2009.

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION: SUMMARY
Seasonally adjusted
 
 
Industrial production
2007=100 Percent change
2010 2010 Oct. '09 to
Oct. '10
May[r] June[r] July[r] Aug.[r] Sept.[r] Oct.[p] May[r] June[r] July[r] Aug.[r] Sept.[r] Oct.[p]
       
Total index   92.6   92.6   93.3   93.5   93.4   93.4    1.2     .0     .8     .2    -.2     .0    5.3
   Previous estimates   92.5   92.6   93.2   93.4   93.2          1.1     .1     .7     .2    -.2    
       
Major market groups      
Final Products   94.4   94.4   95.5   95.1   94.9   95.2    2.0     .1    1.1    -.3    -.2     .4    4.9
   Consumer goods   94.4   94.4   95.5   95.0   94.6   94.6    2.3     .0    1.2    -.5    -.5     .0    2.6
   Business equipment   93.0   93.6   94.3   94.5   94.7   95.8    2.0     .6     .7     .2     .3    1.1   10.4
Nonindustrial supplies   85.2   85.2   85.2   85.5   84.7   84.3     .6     .0     .0     .3    -.9    -.5    2.7
   Construction   79.3   79.3   78.8   79.6   79.3   79.4    -.1     .0    -.6    1.0    -.4     .2    7.7
Materials   93.5   93.5   94.2   94.8   95.0   94.9     .6     .0     .7     .7     .2    -.1    6.7
       
Major industry groups      
Manufacturing (see note below)   90.3   90.0   90.7   90.7   90.8   91.3    1.2    -.3     .7     .0     .1     .5    6.1
   Previous estimates   90.2   90.0   90.6   90.7   90.6          1.1    -.3     .6     .1    -.2    
Mining  100.0   99.8  100.8  103.1  103.2  103.2    -.8    -.2    1.0    2.3     .1    -.1    7.5
Utilities   99.2  101.6  102.5  101.5   99.3   95.9    4.1    2.5     .9   -1.0   -2.2   -3.4   -2.6


 
 
 
 
Capacity utilization
 
Percent of capacity
Capacity
growth
Average
1972-
2009
1988-
89
high
1990-
91
low
1994-
95
high
2008-
09
low
 
2009
Oct.
   
2010 Oct. '09 to
Oct. '10
May[r] June[r] July[r] Aug.[r] Sept.[r] Oct.[p]
       
Total industry   80.6   85.2   78.7   85.1   68.2   70.7   74.2   74.2   74.8   74.9   74.8   74.8    -.4
   Previous estimates                                       74.1   74.2   74.7   74.8   74.7            
       
Manufacturing (see note below)   79.2   85.6   77.2   84.6   65.4   68.2   72.0   71.7   72.2   72.2   72.3   72.7    -.3
   Previous estimates                                       71.9   71.7   72.2   72.3   72.2            
Mining   87.4   86.4   83.6   88.9   79.6   81.8   85.4   85.2   86.1   88.0   88.0   87.9     .0
Utilities   86.7   92.9   84.3   93.3   77.6   79.9   79.6   81.5   82.1   81.3   79.4   76.6    1.6
       
Stage-of-process groups      
Crude   86.5   87.8   84.2   90.0   78.3   81.2   84.6   84.5   85.2   86.6   87.2   87.3    -.8
Primary and semifinished   81.6   86.6   77.9   87.9   65.7   67.9   71.6   71.9   72.2   72.1   71.5   71.0    -.6
Finished   77.5   83.4   77.3   80.5   67.5   70.7   73.5   73.2   73.9   73.9   74.0   74.5     .7

Market Groups

The output of consumer goods was unchanged in October. The production of consumer durables rose 0.8 percent. Within durables, the indexes for automotive products and for appliances, furniture, and carpeting each increased 1.1 percent. Gains in the production of miscellaneous goods and of home electronics were smaller, at 0.2 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively. The production of nondurable consumer goods declined 0.2 percent; a fall of 3.2 percent for the energy category, which primarily resulted from a decrease in the index for residential utilities, more than offset an increase of 0.7 percent for the non-energy category. Within non-energy nondurables, the index for clothing advanced 2.0 percent, and the indexes for foods and tobacco and for chemical products moved up at lesser rates; the index for paper products moved down.

The output of business equipment moved up 1.1 percent in October; it was 10.4 percent above its year-earlier level. The indexes for information processing equipment and for industrial and other equipment each advanced 1.2 percent, while the index for transit equipment rose 0.7 percent after two months of small declines.

In October, the index for defense and space equipment increased 0.7 percent and retraced most of its losses of the previous two months.

The production of construction supplies moved up 0.2 percent in October after having declined 0.4 percent in September. The index for business supplies decreased 0.8 percent in October; a decline of 3.2 percent in commercial energy products was partly offset by a gain of 0.2 percent in non-energy supplies.

The production of materials fell 0.1 percent in October. An increase in the output of durable materials, for which all major categories advanced, was offset by a small decline for nondurable materials and a somewhat larger decrease for energy materials. Within nondurable materials, the indexes for textiles and chemicals declined, and the index for paper advanced.

Industry Groups

Production in manufacturing rose 0.5 percent in October, and the factory operating rate moved up to 72.7 percent, a rate 6.5 percentage points below its average from 1972 to 2009. The output of durable goods increased 0.9 percent, with increases in most major categories. After having declined the previous four months, the output of wood products jumped 2.5 percent; the indexes for nonmetallic mineral products and for electrical equipment, appliances, and components also increased by 2.0 percent or more. Within durable manufacturing, only the index for primary metals fell, at a rate of 0.4 percent.

The production of nondurable goods moved up 0.2 percent in October after having risen 0.4 percent in September. The output of apparel and leather increased by the largest proportion, and the production of food, beverage, and tobacco products, of paper, and of plastics and rubber products also rose. The indexes for printing, for petroleum and coal products, and for chemicals declined. The index for other manufacturing (non-NAICS), which consists of publishing and logging, was unchanged after having declined in the previous four months.

Mining production edged down 0.1 percent in October, and its utilization rate fell to 87.9 percent, a rate 0.5 percentage point above its average from 1972 to 2009. The index for utilities dropped 3.4 percent; the output of electric utilities declined for a third consecutive month, while the output of natural gas utilities fell for a second month in a row. The operating rate for utilities decreased 2.8 percentage points, to 76.6 percent.

In October, capacity utilization rates at industries grouped by stage of process were as follows: For the crude stage, the operating rate increased 0.1 percentage point, to 87.3 percent, a rate that was 0.8 percentage point above its average from 1972 to 2009; for the primary and semifinished stages, utilization declined 0.5 percentage point, to 71.0 percent, a rate 10.6 percentage points below its long-run average; and for the finished stage, utilization increased 0.5 percentage point, to 74.5 percent, a rate 3.0 percentage points below its long-run average.

Revision of Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization

The Federal Reserve Board plans to issue its annual revision to the index of industrial production (IP) and the related measures of capacity utilization in late March 2011. The revised IP indexes will incorporate detailed data from the 2009 Annual Survey of Manufactures, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. Data from selected editions of the Census Bureau's 2009 Current Industrial Reports and annual data from the U.S. Geological Survey regarding metallic and nonmetallic minerals (except fuels) for 2009 will also be incorporated. The update will include revisions to the monthly indicator (either product data or input data) and to seasonal factors for each industry. In addition, the estimation methods for some series may be changed. Any modifications to the methods for estimating the output of an industry will affect the index from 1972 to the present.

Capacity and capacity utilization will be revised to incorporate data from the Census Bureau's Quarterly Survey of Plant Capacity, which covers manufacturing, along with new data on capacity from the U.S. Geological Survey, the Department of Energy, and other organizations.

Once the revision is published, it will be available on the Board's website at www.federalreserve.gov/releases/G17. The revised data will also be 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).

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 | 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)
Data Download Program (DDP) | Announcements | Historical data (text files)

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