DDP
PrintIndustrial Production and Capacity Utilization - G.17
Current Release (250 KB PDF) (ASCII)
Industrial production increased 0.2 percent in September after having been unchanged in August. Previously, industrial production was reported to have stepped up 0.2 percent in August. For the third quarter as a whole, industrial production rose at an annual rate of 5.1 percent. Manufacturing output moved up 0.4 percent in September after having gained 0.3 percent in August. Production at mines advanced 0.8 percent in September, while the output of utilities decreased 1.8 percent. At 94.2 percent of its 2007 average, total industrial production for September was 3.2 percent above its year-earlier level. Capacity utilization for total industry edged up to 77.4 percent, a rate 1.7 percentage points above its level from a year earlier but 3.0 percentage points below its long-run (1972--2010) average.
Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization: Summary
| Industrial production | 2007=100 | Percent change | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 2011 | Sept. '10 to Sept. '11 |
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| Apr.[r] | May[r] | June[r] | July[r] | Aug.[r] | Sept.[p] | Apr.[r] | May[r] | June[r] | July[r] | Aug.[r] | Sept.[p] | ||
| Total index | 92.7 | 93.0 | 93.0 | 94.0 | 94.0 | 94.2 | -.4 | .3 | .0 | 1.1 | .0 | .2 | 3.2 |
| Previous estimates | 92.7 | 93.0 | 93.0 | 93.9 | 94.0 | -.4 | .3 | .1 | .9 | .2 | |||
| Major market groups | |||||||||||||
| Final Products | 94.2 | 94.7 | 94.5 | 95.5 | 95.9 | 96.2 | -.3 | .6 | -.2 | 1.0 | .4 | .4 | 3.8 |
| Consumer goods | 92.8 | 93.1 | 92.9 | 93.8 | 93.7 | 93.8 | -.4 | .3 | -.2 | 1.0 | -.1 | .1 | 1.6 |
| Business equipment | 94.5 | 95.8 | 95.9 | 97.0 | 98.4 | 99.4 | -.2 | 1.4 | .1 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 10.3 |
| Nonindustrial supplies | 83.3 | 84.0 | 83.8 | 84.6 | 84.4 | 84.3 | -.5 | .8 | -.2 | 1.0 | -.3 | -.1 | 2.1 |
| Construction | 75.0 | 76.0 | 76.1 | 76.7 | 76.8 | 77.0 | -.3 | 1.3 | .1 | .9 | .1 | .2 | 4.3 |
| Materials | 94.6 | 94.5 | 94.8 | 95.8 | 95.7 | 95.8 | -.5 | -.2 | .3 | 1.1 | -.2 | .1 | 3.0 |
| Major industry groups | |||||||||||||
| Manufacturing (see note below) | 89.6 | 89.7 | 89.6 | 90.3 | 90.6 | 90.9 | -.6 | .1 | -.1 | .7 | .3 | .4 | 3.9 |
| Previous estimates | 89.6 | 89.7 | 89.8 | 90.3 | 90.7 | -.5 | .1 | .0 | .6 | .5 | |||
| Mining | 105.1 | 105.6 | 105.9 | 107.5 | 108.4 | 109.3 | .8 | .5 | .3 | 1.5 | .8 | .8 | 5.2 |
| Utilities | 99.7 | 100.5 | 101.0 | 103.8 | 100.8 | 98.9 | -.9 | .8 | .4 | 2.8 | -2.9 | -1.8 | -3.6 |
| Capacity utilization | Percent of capacity | Capacity growth |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average 1972- 2010 |
1988- 89 high |
1990- 91 low |
1994- 95 high |
2009 low |
2010 Sept. |
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| 2011 | Sept. '10 to Sept. '11 |
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| Apr.[r] | May[r] | June[r] | July[r] | Aug.[r] | Sept.[p] | ||||||||
| Total industry | 80.4 | 85.2 | 78.8 | 85.1 | 67.3 | 75.7 | 76.6 | 76.7 | 76.6 | 77.4 | 77.3 | 77.4 | 1.0 |
| Previous estimates | 76.6 | 76.7 | 76.7 | 77.3 | 77.4 | ||||||||
| Manufacturing (see note below) | 79.0 | 85.5 | 77.3 | 84.7 | 64.4 | 72.7 | 74.4 | 74.4 | 74.3 | 74.7 | 74.9 | 75.1 | .6 |
| Previous estimates | 74.4 | 74.4 | 74.4 | 74.7 | 75.0 | ||||||||
| Mining | 87.4 | 86.3 | 83.8 | 88.5 | 79.0 | 88.6 | 88.5 | 88.8 | 88.9 | 90.1 | 90.7 | 91.3 | 2.1 |
| Utilities | 86.6 | 92.9 | 84.3 | 93.3 | 79.2 | 82.4 | 78.7 | 79.3 | 79.5 | 81.6 | 79.2 | 77.6 | 2.4 |
| Stage-of-process groups | |||||||||||||
| Crude | 86.4 | 87.7 | 84.3 | 89.6 | 77.6 | 87.1 | 87.1 | 86.9 | 87.0 | 87.9 | 88.0 | 88.8 | 1.6 |
| Primary and semifinished | 81.3 | 86.5 | 77.9 | 87.9 | 64.9 | 72.8 | 73.6 | 73.9 | 73.9 | 74.8 | 74.3 | 73.9 | .1 |
| Finished | 77.3 | 83.3 | 77.4 | 80.7 | 66.8 | 74.4 | 75.8 | 75.8 | 75.6 | 76.1 | 76.5 | 76.7 | 1.7 |
Market Groups
The output of consumer goods increased 0.1 percent in September. The index for durable consumer goods rose 0.9 percent; gains in the production of automotive products, home electronics, and miscellaneous goods more than offset a decline in the output of appliances, furniture, and carpeting. The production of nondurable consumer goods edged down 0.1 percent, as a decrease in the index for consumer energy outweighed a rise in the output of other nondurable consumer goods. The gain for non-energy nondurables reflected higher output for food and tobacco; the indexes for its other three major categories---clothing, chemicals, and paper---all fell. For the third quarter, the output of consumer goods increased at an annual rate of 3.7 percent after having decreased 1.6 percent in the second quarter.
In September, the production of business equipment rose 1.0 percent, its third consecutive gain of 1 percent or more, and was 10.3 percent above its year-earlier level. The index for transit equipment advanced 1.9 percent, the index for information processing equipment moved up 1.4 percent, and the production of industrial and other equipment increased 0.3 percent. For the third quarter, the output of business equipment rose at an annual rate of 12.6 percent. The output of transit equipment jumped 31.8 percent, the largest increase among the major components of business equipment for the quarter. The principal contributors to the gain were civilian aircraft and trucks.
The production of defense and space equipment increased 1.2 percent in September after a similarly sized gain in August.
The index for construction supplies rose 0.2 percent in September for its fifth consecutive monthly increase. In the third quarter, the production of construction supplies advanced at an annual rate of 6.3 percent, its largest quarterly increase in more than a year. The production of business supplies moved down 0.2 percent in September after having declined 0.4 percent in August, but in the third quarter overall, output rose at an annual rate of 2.4 percent.
The output of materials to be further processed in the industrial sector edged up 0.1 percent in September after having recorded a 0.2 percent loss in August. The index for durable materials increased 0.2 percent and was up for a third consecutive month in September. Among the major categories of durable materials, consumer parts rose 0.3 percent, equipment parts increased 0.7 percent, and other consumer durables fell slightly. Following a decrease of 0.6 percent in August, the production of nondurable materials increased 0.4 percent in September, with gains in textile, paper, and chemical materials partly offset by decreases for containers and miscellaneous nondurable materials. The output of energy materials edged down in September. For the third quarter, the output of materials rose at an annual rate of 4.8 percent after having been little changed in the second quarter.
Industry Groups
Manufacturing output increased 0.4 percent in September to a level that was 3.9 percent higher than a year earlier. The factory operating rate moved up to 75.1 percent, a rate 10.7 percentage points above its trough in June 2009, but still 3.9 percentage points below its long-run average.
The output of durable goods manufacturing increased 0.6 percent in September and was 7.9 percent above its year-earlier level. Output gains of more than 2 percent were recorded in wood products and in aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment, while output gains of at least 1 percent were recorded for computer and electronic products; electrical equipment, appliances, and components; and miscellaneous manufacturing. Production for four major components of durables declined: nonmetallic mineral products, primary metals, fabricated metal products, and furniture and related products.
The production index for nondurable manufacturing moved up 0.2 percent in September. Output rose at an annual rate of 1.0 percent in the third quarter after having declined by the same amount in the second quarter. Among the major components of nondurables, paper posted the largest increase in September, and production rose slightly for food, beverage, and tobacco products; chemicals; and plastics and rubber products. The output of apparel and leather dropped 1.2 percent for its second consecutive monthly decrease; the index for printing fell 0.5 percent and was 3.1 percent below its year-earlier level. The index for other manufacturing (non-NAICS), which consists of publishing and logging, decreased 0.7 percent in September.
Mining production increased 0.8 percent in September, and gains were widespread among mined energy components. Capacity utilization in mining rose to 91.3 percent, a rate 3.9 percentage points above its long-run average. The output of utilities moved down 1.8 percent as temperatures in September moderated following an unseasonably hot August. The operating rate for utilities declined to 77.6 percent, a rate 9.0 percentage points below its long-run average.
Capacity utilization rates in September at industries by stage of process were as follows: At the crude stage, utilization increased 0.8 percentage point to 88.8 percent, a rate 2.4 percentage points above its long-run average; at the primary and semifinished stages, utilization moved down 0.4 percentage point to 73.9 percent, a rate 7.4 percentage points below its long-run average; and at the finished stage, utilization gained 0.2 percentage point to 76.7 percent, a rate 0.6 percentage point below its long-run average.
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.
