DDP
PrintIndustrial Production and Capacity Utilization - G.17
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Industrial production decreased 0.2 percent in September after edging down 0.1 percent in August. The decline in August is smaller than previously reported. In September, manufacturing output moved down 0.1 percent for a second consecutive monthly decrease; the index for mining fell 2.0 percent, while the index for utilities rose 1.3 percent. For the third quarter as a whole, total industrial production rose at an annual rate of 1.8 percent, and manufacturing output increased 2.5 percent. A strong gain for motor vehicles and parts contributed substantially to the quarterly increases. At 107.1 percent of its 2012 average, total industrial production in September was 0.4 percent above its year-earlier level. Capacity utilization for the industrial sector fell 0.3 percentage point in September to 77.5 percent, a rate that is 2.6 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2014) average.
Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization: Summary
| Industrial production | 2012=100 | Percent change | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 2015 | Sept. '14 to Sept. '15 |
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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 | 107.1 | 106.7 | 106.6 | 107.4 | 107.3 | 107.1 | -.2 | -.4 | .0 | .8 | -.1 | -.2 | .4 |
| Previous estimates | 107.0 | 106.6 | 106.6 | 107.5 | 107.1 | -.2 | -.4 | .0 | .9 | -.4 | |||
| Major market groups | |||||||||||||
| Final Products | 103.9 | 103.6 | 103.5 | 104.7 | 104.6 | 104.7 | -.2 | -.2 | -.1 | 1.2 | .0 | .1 | 1.1 |
| Consumer goods | 105.5 | 104.9 | 104.9 | 106.6 | 106.2 | 106.5 | -.1 | -.5 | .0 | 1.6 | -.4 | .2 | 2.6 |
| Business equipment | 106.0 | 106.8 | 106.7 | 106.8 | 107.5 | 107.3 | .2 | .7 | -.1 | .2 | .6 | -.1 | 1.8 |
| Nonindustrial supplies | 105.5 | 105.3 | 105.6 | 105.6 | 105.9 | 105.3 | .5 | -.2 | .2 | .0 | .3 | -.6 | .2 |
| Construction | 108.4 | 108.8 | 109.2 | 109.6 | 109.9 | 108.5 | .8 | .3 | .4 | .4 | .3 | -1.3 | .1 |
| Materials | 110.3 | 109.7 | 109.7 | 110.4 | 109.9 | 109.6 | -.3 | -.5 | -.1 | .7 | -.4 | -.3 | -.2 |
| Major industry groups | |||||||||||||
| Manufacturing (see note below) | 105.2 | 105.2 | 105.0 | 106.1 | 105.7 | 105.5 | .4 | .0 | -.2 | 1.0 | -.4 | -.1 | 1.4 |
| Previous estimates | 105.2 | 105.0 | 104.9 | 105.8 | 105.3 | .4 | -.1 | -.2 | .9 | -.5 | |||
| Mining | 117.9 | 115.3 | 115.3 | 116.5 | 116.5 | 114.1 | -1.3 | -2.2 | .0 | 1.1 | .0 | -2.0 | -5.7 |
| Utilities | 102.7 | 102.2 | 103.1 | 101.7 | 103.1 | 104.4 | -2.6 | -.5 | .9 | -1.4 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.0 |
| Capacity utilization | Percent of capacity | Capacity growth |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average 1972- 2014 |
1988- 89 high |
1990- 91 low |
1994- 95 high |
2009 low |
2014 Sept. |
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| 2015 | Sept. '14 to Sept. '15 |
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| Apr.[r] | May[r] | June[r] | July[r] | Aug.[r] | Sept.[p] | ||||||||
| Total industry | 80.1 | 85.2 | 78.8 | 85.0 | 66.9 | 78.5 | 78.0 | 77.6 | 77.5 | 78.0 | 77.8 | 77.5 | 1.6 |
| Previous estimates | 77.9 | 77.5 | 77.4 | 78.0 | 77.6 | ||||||||
| Manufacturing (see note below) | 78.5 | 85.6 | 77.3 | 84.6 | 63.9 | 75.7 | 76.1 | 76.0 | 75.7 | 76.4 | 76.1 | 75.9 | 1.1 |
| Previous estimates | 76.0 | 75.9 | 75.7 | 76.2 | 75.8 | ||||||||
| Mining | 87.5 | 86.2 | 83.8 | 88.7 | 79.0 | 91.1 | 85.7 | 83.5 | 83.3 | 84.0 | 83.7 | 81.9 | 5.0 |
| Utilities | 85.9 | 92.9 | 84.3 | 93.3 | 78.5 | 79.7 | 78.7 | 78.2 | 78.9 | 77.8 | 78.8 | 79.8 | .9 |
| Stage-of-process groups | |||||||||||||
| Crude | 86.3 | 87.6 | 84.3 | 89.8 | 76.9 | 88.4 | 84.7 | 83.1 | 82.7 | 83.4 | 83.0 | 81.7 | 3.9 |
| Primary and semifinished | 80.7 | 86.5 | 78.1 | 87.8 | 64.2 | 76.5 | 76.2 | 76.1 | 76.1 | 76.3 | 76.0 | 75.9 | .9 |
| Finished | 77.0 | 83.4 | 77.4 | 80.7 | 66.7 | 75.5 | 76.2 | 76.0 | 75.9 | 76.7 | 76.6 | 76.6 | 1.4 |
Market Groups
With an increase of 0.2 percent, the only major market group to post a gain in September was consumer goods. Among its components, the production of consumer energy products rose 1.3 percent, the index for consumer non-energy nondurables edged up 0.1 percent, and the output of durable consumer goods slipped 0.3 percent. The index for business equipment declined slightly; among its major components, the only notable move was in transit equipment, which recorded a decrease of 0.7 percent. The output of construction supplies fell 1.3 percent, while the output of business supplies moved down 0.2 percent. The production of materials declined 0.3 percent, largely as a result of a decrease for energy materials. For the third quarter, most major market groups recorded increases; the largest gain was in the index for consumer goods, which rose at an annual rate of 5.2 percent.
Industry Groups
Manufacturing output decreased 0.1 percent in September, as the output of durable goods moved down 0.2 percent and the production of nondurable goods was unchanged. Among durable goods industries, drops of 1.0 percent or more were recorded by electrical equipment, appliances, and components; nonmetallic mineral products; wood products; and miscellaneous manufacturing. Among nondurable goods industries, none registered a large change in output. The output of other manufacturing (publishing and logging) fell 1.3 percent after having dropped a similar amount in August.
Warmer-than-usual temperatures in September led to an increase in the output of utilities. Strong demand for air conditioning boosted the output of electric utilities, but that gain was partially offset by a drop in the output of gas utilities due to weak demand for heating. The decline in mining output reflected sizable cuts in both the extraction of crude oil and the drilling of oil and gas wells. Mining output in September was 5.7 percent below its level of a year earlier.
The capacity utilization rate for manufacturing fell 0.2 percentage point in September to 75.9 percent, a rate 2.6 percentage points below its long-run average. The capacity utilization rate for durable goods industries, at 75.9 percent, was 1.0 percentage point below its long-run average; the rate for nondurable goods industries, at 77.4 percent, was 3.0 percentage points below its long-run average. The operating rate for other manufacturing (publishing and logging) was down 0.7 percentage point to 58.5 percent. The utilization rate for mines fell 1.8 percentage points to 81.9 percent, and the rate for utilities increased 1.0 percentage point to 79.8 percent.
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.
