DDP
PrintIndustrial Production and Capacity Utilization - G.17
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Industrial production increased 0.3 percent in June after having been unchanged in May. For the second quarter as a whole, industrial production moved up at an annual rate of 0.6 percent. In June, manufacturing production rose 0.3 percent following an increase of 0.2 percent in May. The output at mines advanced 0.8 percent in June, while the output of utilities decreased 0.1 percent. At 99.1 percent of its 2007 average, total industrial production was 2.0 percent above its year-earlier level. The rate of capacity utilization for total industry edged up 0.1 percentage point to 77.8 percent, a rate that was 0.1 percentage point above its level of a year earlier but 2.4 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2012) average.
Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization: Summary
| Industrial production | 2007=100 | Percent change | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 2013 | June '12 to June '13 |
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| Jan.[r] | Feb.[r] | Mar.[r] | Apr.[r] | May[r] | June[p] | Jan.[r] | Feb.[r] | Mar.[r] | Apr.[r] | May[r] | June[p] | ||
| Total index | 98.2 | 98.9 | 99.1 | 98.8 | 98.7 | 99.1 | .0 | .7 | .2 | -.3 | .0 | .3 | 2.0 |
| Previous estimates | 98.2 | 98.9 | 99.1 | 98.6 | 98.7 | .0 | .7 | .2 | -.4 | .0 | |||
| Major market groups | |||||||||||||
| Final Products | 95.7 | 96.7 | 97.2 | 96.9 | 96.6 | 97.1 | -.2 | 1.0 | .5 | -.3 | -.3 | .5 | 1.9 |
| Consumer goods | 93.3 | 94.1 | 94.7 | 94.4 | 94.1 | 94.6 | .2 | .8 | .7 | -.4 | -.3 | .5 | 2.1 |
| Business equipment | 100.5 | 102.3 | 102.3 | 102.1 | 102.0 | 102.6 | -1.2 | 1.9 | .0 | -.2 | -.1 | .5 | 2.2 |
| Nonindustrial supplies | 87.5 | 88.3 | 88.2 | 87.7 | 87.3 | 87.4 | .5 | .9 | .0 | -.6 | -.4 | .1 | 1.1 |
| Construction | 80.9 | 82.8 | 81.8 | 80.9 | 80.8 | 80.8 | 1.0 | 2.3 | -1.2 | -1.1 | -.1 | .1 | 3.8 |
| Materials | 104.2 | 104.6 | 104.7 | 104.5 | 104.7 | 105.0 | .1 | .5 | .0 | -.2 | .2 | .2 | 2.3 |
| Major industry groups | |||||||||||||
| Manufacturing (see note below) | 95.2 | 95.8 | 95.5 | 95.2 | 95.5 | 95.7 | -.1 | .7 | -.3 | -.3 | .2 | .3 | 1.8 |
| Previous estimates | 95.2 | 95.8 | 95.5 | 95.2 | 95.3 | -.1 | .7 | -.3 | -.4 | .1 | |||
| Mining | 115.0 | 116.2 | 115.7 | 116.4 | 116.9 | 117.8 | -.8 | 1.0 | -.5 | .7 | .4 | .8 | 4.4 |
| Utilities | 97.9 | 98.9 | 103.8 | 102.1 | 99.3 | 99.2 | 2.5 | .9 | 5.0 | -1.6 | -2.8 | -.1 | -.3 |
| Capacity utilization | Percent of capacity | Capacity growth |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average 1972- 2012 |
1988- 89 high |
1990- 91 low |
1994- 95 high |
2009 low |
2012 June |
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| 2013 | June '12 to June '13 |
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| Jan.[r] | Feb.[r] | Mar.[r] | Apr.[r] | May[r] | June[p] | ||||||||
| Total industry | 80.2 | 85.2 | 78.8 | 85.0 | 66.9 | 77.7 | 77.7 | 78.2 | 78.2 | 77.9 | 77.7 | 77.8 | 1.8 |
| Previous estimates | 77.7 | 78.1 | 78.1 | 77.7 | 77.6 | ||||||||
| Manufacturing (see note below) | 78.7 | 85.6 | 77.3 | 84.6 | 64.0 | 75.9 | 76.2 | 76.6 | 76.3 | 75.9 | 76.0 | 76.1 | 1.5 |
| Previous estimates | 76.2 | 76.6 | 76.2 | 75.8 | 75.8 | ||||||||
| Mining | 87.3 | 86.3 | 83.9 | 88.6 | 78.3 | 87.7 | 87.3 | 88.0 | 87.2 | 87.6 | 87.6 | 87.9 | 4.1 |
| Utilities | 86.2 | 92.9 | 84.3 | 93.3 | 78.6 | 78.8 | 76.9 | 77.5 | 81.3 | 79.9 | 77.7 | 77.6 | 1.2 |
| Stage-of-process groups | |||||||||||||
| Crude | 86.3 | 87.7 | 84.4 | 89.7 | 76.4 | 86.0 | 86.2 | 86.6 | 86.1 | 86.2 | 86.3 | 86.2 | 3.0 |
| Primary and semifinished | 81.0 | 86.5 | 78.0 | 87.9 | 64.4 | 75.5 | 75.9 | 76.4 | 76.9 | 76.3 | 75.9 | 76.0 | .5 |
| Finished | 77.1 | 83.4 | 77.3 | 80.6 | 66.8 | 76.6 | 76.0 | 76.5 | 76.2 | 75.9 | 75.9 | 76.1 | 3.0 |
Market Groups
The production of consumer goods increased 0.5 percent in June following a decline of 0.3 percent in May. The output of durable consumer goods advanced 1.1 percent in June. Every major component of consumer durables either increased or was unchanged, with automotive products and home electronics posting the largest gains—1.4 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively. After having decreased 0.4 percent in both April and May, the output of nondurable consumer goods rose 0.3 percent in June. The index for non-energy nondurables stepped up 0.5 percent, driven by gains in the indexes for foods and tobacco and for paper products. The output of consumer energy products declined 0.3 percent, marking the third consecutive monthly decrease for this index. The index for total consumer goods moved up at an annual rate of 1.4 percent in the second quarter, a rate of expansion substantially below the increase of 5.6 percent in the first quarter but about the same as in the fourth quarter of 2012. The smaller increase in the second quarter reflected a deceleration in the output of both durables and non-energy nondurables.
The index for business equipment moved up 0.5 percent in June after having fallen 0.1 percent in May and 0.2 percent in April. The gain in June reflected increases of 0.5 percent for transit equipment and 1.1 percent for the industrial and other equipment category. Conversely, the production of information processing equipment dropped 1.0 percent. For the second quarter as a whole, the output of business equipment rose at an annual rate of 2.2 percent, about half of its rate of increase in the previous quarter. The indexes for information processing equipment and for industrial and other equipment recorded substantially slower gains in the second quarter than in the first quarter. By contrast, the index for transit equipment rose at an annual rate of 6.4 percent last quarter to more than reverse a decrease of 2.9 percent in the first quarter.
The output of defense and space equipment increased 0.1 percent in June, the first monthly gain for the index in 2013. The index decreased at an annual rate of about 3 1/2 percent in both the first and second quarters.
Among nonindustrial supplies, the production of construction supplies edged up in June after having edged down in May; output decreased more than 1 percent in both March and April. The index fell at an annual rate of 4.9 percent in the second quarter after having jumped 14.3 percent in the first quarter and 7.2 percent in the fourth quarter of last year. The index for business supplies edged up 0.1 percent in June, its first increase since March; the index decreased at an annual rate of 1.3 percent in the second quarter to reverse about half of its gain in the previous quarter.
The production of materials to be processed further in the industrial sector advanced 0.2 percent in June, the same rate of increase as in May. The output of durable materials gained 0.4 percent in June, led by an increase of 0.8 percent for equipment parts; the index for consumer parts moved down a little, and the index for other durable materials was up slightly. The production of nondurable materials edged down 0.1 percent, as decreases for paper materials and for chemical materials outweighed the rise for textile materials. The output of energy materials stepped up 0.4 percent. For the second quarter as a whole, energy materials advanced at an annual rate of 5.2 percent after having increased 2.2 percent in the first quarter. In contrast, the indexes for both durable and nondurable materials decreased last quarter after having recorded increases in the previous quarter. The output of total industrial materials increased at an annual rate of 0.9 percent in the second quarter, well below the gain of 3.4 percent in the first quarter.
Industry Groups
Manufacturing output increased 0.3 percent in June after having risen 0.2 percent in May. The index for manufacturing decreased at an annual rate of 0.2 percent in the second quarter, after having advanced 5.1 percent in the first quarter. The factory operating rate inched up to 76.1 percent in June, a rate 2.6 percentage points below its long-run average.
The output of durable goods moved up 0.5 percent in June; for the second quarter, the index increased at an annual rate of 1.5 percent after having improved 6.5 percent in the first quarter. Among its major components, the largest gains in June were for machinery, for miscellaneous manufacturing, and for motor vehicles and parts, which all posted gains of more than 1 percent. The indexes for several other categories also moved up, but those for wood products, primary metals, aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment, and furniture and related products all decreased. Capacity utilization for durable goods manufacturing moved up 0.2 percentage point to 76.2 percent, a rate 0.8 percentage point below its long-run average.
The production of nondurable goods was unchanged in June after having edged up 0.1 percent in May. The index fell at an annual rate of 1.5 percent in the second quarter after having advanced 4.5 percent in the first quarter. Among nondurables, the index for food, beverage, and tobacco products increased 0.8 percent and the output of textile and product mills stepped up 1.4 percent in June. These gains were offset by losses of 0.9 percent both in printing and support and in paper as well as a drop of 1.1 percent in petroleum and coal products. The other major nondurables industries posted only small changes, with the indexes for apparel and leather and for plastics and rubber products up slightly and the index for chemicals down a little. Capacity utilization for nondurables remained at 77.5 percent for the third consecutive month, a level 3.2 percentage points below its long-run average.
Production for non-NAICS manufacturing industries (publishing and logging) increased 0.7 percent in June, the first gain realized in 2013; the index fell at an annual rate of 6.4 percent last quarter, a smaller decrease than in the first quarter.
In June, the production at mines advanced 0.8 percent, double its rate of increase in May. For the second quarter, mining output rose at an annual rate of 4.9 percent after having fallen 0.7 percent in the first quarter. In June, the capacity utilization rate for mining increased 0.3 percentage point to 87.9 percent, a rate 0.6 percentage point above its long-run average. The production index for electric utilities edged up 0.1 percent, while the index for natural gas utilities fell 1.0 percent. The operating rate for utilities inched down 0.1 percentage point to 77.6 percent, a rate 8.6 percentage points below its long-run average.
Capacity utilization rates in June for industries grouped by stage of process were as follows: At the crude stage, utilization fell 0.1 percentage point to 86.2 percent, a rate 0.1 percentage point below its long-run average; at the primary and semifinished stages, utilization inched up 0.1 percentage point to 76.0 percent, a rate 5.0 percentage points below its long-run average; and at the finished stage, utilization rose 0.2 percentage point to 76.1 percent, a rate 1.0 percentage point lower than its long-run average.
The estimates for industrial capacity in 2013 were revised for this release. The revisions reflect updated measures of physical capacity from various government and trade sources as well as updated estimates of industry capital spending. Capacity for the industrial sector, measured from the fourth quarter of 2012 to the fourth quarter of 2013, is now expected to increase 1.8 percent, a rate that is 0.1 percentage point slower than previously estimated. Manufacturing capacity is expected to rise 1.6 percent in 2013, a pace 0.2 percentage point less than in previous estimates. Relative to the previous estimates, faster gains in the high-technology and motor vehicles industries have been more than offset by slower gains elsewhere in manufacturing. The increase in mining capacity for 2013 has been revised upward by 0.5 percentage point to 4.4 percent, while the change in capacity for utilities, at 0.9 percent, is 0.2 percentage point faster than previously estimated.
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.
