DDP
PrintIndustrial Production and Capacity Utilization - G.17
Current Release (270 KB PDF) (ASCII)
Industrial production rose 0.7 percent in July after moving up 0.4 percent in June. The advance in July was the largest for the index since November 2014. Manufacturing output increased 0.5 percent in July for its largest gain since July 2015. The index for utilities rose 2.1 percent as a result of warmer-than-usual weather in July boosting demand for air conditioning. The output of mining moved up 0.7 percent; the index has increased modestly, on net, over the past three months after having fallen about 17 percent between December 2014 and April 2016. At 104.9 percent of its 2012 average, total industrial production in July was 0.5 percent lower than its year-earlier level. Capacity utilization for the industrial sector increased 0.5 percentage point in July to 75.9 percent, a rate that is 4.1 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2015) average.
Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization: Summary
| Industrial production | 2012=100 | Percent change | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2016 | July '15 to July '16 |
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| Feb.[r] | Mar.[r] | Apr.[r] | May[r] | June[r] | July[p] | Feb.[r] | Mar.[r] | Apr.[r] | May[r] | June[r] | July[p] | ||
| Total index | 104.4 | 103.4 | 103.9 | 103.7 | 104.1 | 104.9 | -.1 | -1.0 | .5 | -.2 | .4 | .7 | -.5 |
| Previous estimates | 104.4 | 103.4 | 103.8 | 103.5 | 104.1 | -.2 | -1.0 | .5 | -.3 | .6 | |||
| Major market groups | |||||||||||||
| Final Products | 100.6 | 99.6 | 100.8 | 100.5 | 101.0 | 101.6 | -.1 | -1.0 | 1.2 | -.3 | .5 | .6 | .1 |
| Consumer goods | 103.4 | 102.2 | 103.7 | 103.2 | 103.8 | 104.4 | -.1 | -1.1 | 1.4 | -.4 | .5 | .6 | .7 |
| Business equipment | 101.8 | 101.2 | 102.5 | 102.3 | 102.9 | 103.5 | .3 | -.6 | 1.2 | -.1 | .6 | .6 | .0 |
| Nonindustrial supplies | 106.6 | 105.4 | 105.6 | 105.2 | 105.1 | 105.5 | .4 | -1.1 | .1 | -.4 | -.1 | .4 | .7 |
| Construction | 111.2 | 110.3 | 110.4 | 109.5 | 109.1 | 109.6 | 1.0 | -.9 | .1 | -.8 | -.3 | .4 | 1.5 |
| Materials | 106.8 | 105.8 | 105.7 | 105.7 | 106.2 | 107.3 | -.3 | -.9 | -.2 | .0 | .5 | 1.0 | -1.5 |
| Major industry groups | |||||||||||||
| Manufacturing (see note below) | 103.3 | 102.9 | 103.0 | 102.8 | 103.1 | 103.6 | -.1 | -.4 | .1 | -.2 | .3 | .5 | .2 |
| Previous estimates | 103.4 | 103.0 | 103.0 | 102.8 | 103.2 | .0 | -.4 | .1 | -.3 | .4 | |||
| Mining | 108.6 | 106.1 | 103.0 | 103.8 | 103.4 | 104.2 | .4 | -2.3 | -3.0 | .8 | -.3 | .7 | -10.2 |
| Utilities | 100.4 | 96.3 | 102.3 | 101.9 | 104.0 | 106.2 | -1.1 | -4.0 | 6.2 | -.4 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 3.5 |
| Capacity utilization | Percent of capacity | Capacity growth |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average 1972- 2015 |
1988- 89 high |
1990- 91 low |
1994- 95 high |
2009 low |
2015 July |
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| 2016 | July '15 to July '16 |
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| Feb.[r] | Mar.[r] | Apr.[r] | May[r] | June[r] | July[p] | ||||||||
| Total industry | 80.0 | 85.3 | 78.8 | 85.0 | 66.7 | 76.7 | 75.6 | 74.9 | 75.2 | 75.1 | 75.4 | 75.9 | .5 |
| Previous estimates | 75.6 | 74.8 | 75.2 | 74.9 | 75.4 | ||||||||
| Manufacturing (see note below) | 78.5 | 85.6 | 77.3 | 84.6 | 63.8 | 75.8 | 75.4 | 75.0 | 75.0 | 74.8 | 75.0 | 75.4 | .7 |
| Previous estimates | 75.4 | 75.1 | 75.1 | 74.8 | 75.1 | ||||||||
| Mining | 87.3 | 86.2 | 83.8 | 88.6 | 79.0 | 81.9 | 76.8 | 75.2 | 73.2 | 74.1 | 74.1 | 74.9 | -1.8 |
| Utilities | 85.8 | 93.2 | 84.7 | 93.2 | 78.2 | 78.8 | 76.9 | 73.7 | 78.2 | 77.8 | 79.4 | 81.0 | .7 |
| Stage-of-process groups | |||||||||||||
| Crude | 86.3 | 87.6 | 84.5 | 90.1 | 77.0 | 80.6 | 76.5 | 75.8 | 74.1 | 74.9 | 75.0 | 76.0 | -1.5 |
| Primary and semifinished | 80.6 | 86.5 | 78.1 | 87.8 | 63.8 | 76.5 | 75.8 | 74.5 | 75.3 | 74.9 | 75.4 | 76.1 | .8 |
| Finished | 77.0 | 83.4 | 77.3 | 80.6 | 66.6 | 75.6 | 75.2 | 75.0 | 75.4 | 75.2 | 75.4 | 75.7 | .8 |
Market Groups
The indexes for most major market groups increased in July. The output of consumer goods rose 0.6 percent, with similarly sized gains for both consumer durables and consumer nondurables. The index for business equipment moved up 0.6 percent, led by gains in transit equipment and in industrial and other equipment. The output of defense and space equipment decreased 0.3 percent. The indexes for construction supplies and business supplies each increased 0.4 percent, their first gains since April 2016. In July, the production of materials increased 1.0 percent, as durable, nondurable, and energy materials all recorded gains. The improvement for durable materials reflected broad-based strength across its major categories. The gains among nondurable materials were somewhat less widespread, as both textile and paper materials registered decreases.
Industry Groups
Manufacturing output rose 0.5 percent in July, and production was 0.2 percent above its level of a year earlier. In July, durables, nondurables, and other manufacturing (publishing and logging) all recorded gains of about 0.5 percent. Among durables, increases of more than 1 percent occurred in motor vehicles and parts, wood products, and miscellaneous goods. Within nondurables, petroleum and coal products, chemicals, and plastics and rubber products posted gains of 0.8 percent or higher, while printing and support activities registered the only decrease of more than 1 percent.
The index for mining moved up 0.7 percent in July, with declines in oil and gas extraction more than offset by increases in the indexes for oil well drilling and servicing and for coal.
Capacity utilization for manufacturing increased 0.4 percentage point in July to 75.4 percent, a rate that is 3.1 percentage points below its long-run average. The operating rate for durables moved up 0.4 percentage point; the rates for nondurables and for other manufacturing (publishing and logging) also increased, each gaining 0.3 percentage point. The operating rate for mining moved up 0.8 percentage point to 74.9 percent, and the rate for utilities rose 1.6 percentage points to 81.0 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.
