Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization - G.17

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Notice: The Federal Reserve Board’s Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization statistical release on August 17, 2017, was inadvertently published on the Board’s website prior to its scheduled 9:15 a.m. EDT release time (at approximately 8:40 a.m. EDT) because of human error.
Release Date: August 17, 2017

Industrial production rose 0.2 percent in July following an increase of 0.4 percent in June. In July, manufacturing output edged down 0.1 percent; the production of motor vehicles and parts fell substantially, but that decrease was mostly offset by a net gain of 0.2 percent for other manufacturing industries. Following a six-month string of increases beginning in September 2016, factory output was little changed, on net, between February and July. The indexes for mining and utilities in July rose 0.5 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively. At 105.5 percent of its 2012 average, total industrial production was 2.2 percent above its year-earlier level. Capacity utilization for the industrial sector was unchanged in July at 76.7 percent, a rate that is 3.2 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2016) average.

Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization: Summary
Seasonally adjusted
Industrial production 2012=100 Percent change
2017 2017 July '16 to
July '17
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 103.7 103.9 104.9 104.9 105.3 105.5 .2 .2 .9 .0 .4 .2 2.2
Previous estimates 103.7 103.8 104.7 104.8 105.2 .2 .1 .8 .1 .4
Major market groups
Final Products 99.8 100.1 101.7 101.7 101.4 101.5 -.5 .3 1.6 .0 -.2 .0 1.0
Consumer goods 103.3 103.6 105.0 105.7 105.0 105.2 -.7 .4 1.3 .6 -.7 .2 .3
Business equipment 99.3 99.4 101.8 99.8 100.3 99.9 -.3 .1 2.4 -1.9 .5 -.5 .7
Nonindustrial supplies 105.4 105.4 105.7 105.5 105.6 105.8 .4 .0 .3 -.2 .1 .2 1.4
Construction 112.4 111.0 112.0 111.2 111.1 110.7 1.7 -1.3 .9 -.8 .0 -.4 2.4
Materials 106.2 106.4 107.0 107.1 108.1 108.4 .9 .2 .6 .1 1.0 .3 3.5
Major industry groups
Manufacturing (see note below) 103.3 102.6 103.8 103.2 103.4 103.4 .3 -.7 1.1 -.6 .2 -.1 1.2
Previous estimates 103.3 102.5 103.5 103.1 103.3 .3 -.8 1.0 -.4 .2
Mining 107.0 106.6 107.2 108.3 110.4 111.0 3.6 -.4 .6 1.0 2.0 .5 10.2
Utilities 93.8 101.5 101.6 104.4 103.1 104.7 -4.8 8.2 .1 2.8 -1.2 1.6 -.6
Capacity utilization Percent of capacity Capacity
growth
Average
1972-
2016 		1988-
89
high 		1990-
91
low 		1994-
95
high
2009
low
2016
July
2017 July '16 to
July '17
Feb.[r] Mar.[r] Apr.[r] May[r] June[r] July[p]
Total industry 79.9 85.2 78.8 85.0 66.7 75.9 75.8 75.9 76.5 76.5 76.7 76.7 1.1
Previous estimates 75.8 75.8 76.4 76.4 76.6
Manufacturing (see note below) 78.4 85.6 77.3 84.6 63.7 75.1 75.6 75.1 75.9 75.4 75.5 75.4 .7
Previous estimates 75.6 75.0 75.7 75.3 75.4
Mining 87.0 86.1 83.8 88.6 78.4 77.8 82.7 82.2 82.4 83.0 84.4 84.6 1.3
Utilities 85.6 93.2 84.7 93.2 78.1 79.6 70.1 75.8 75.8 77.9 76.9 78.1 1.3
Stage-of-process groups
Crude 86.1 87.7 84.5 90.1 76.3 78.3 81.7 81.6 82.0 82.5 83.9 84.0 1.5
Primary and semifinished 80.5 86.5 78.1 87.8 63.8 75.9 74.8 75.6 75.9 76.2 76.0 76.2 .7
Finished 76.9 83.4 77.3 80.6 66.7 74.9 74.8 74.2 75.3 74.6 74.6 74.6 .8
r Revised. p Preliminary.
Market Groups

The output of consumer goods increased 0.2 percent in July. Consumer durables posted a drop of 1.9 percent as a result of sizable decreases for automotive products and for appliances, furniture, and carpeting. The indexes for consumer non-energy nondurables and for consumer energy products increased 0.7 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively. The output of business equipment fell about 1/2 percent, as a drop of nearly 3 percent for transit equipment outweighed gains elsewhere. Construction supplies recorded a decrease of about 1/2 percent, while the output of business supplies rose by a similar amount. The production of materials rose 0.3 percent, with gains in both energy materials and nondurable materials; the output of durable materials declined.

Industry Groups

Manufacturing output edged down 0.1 percent in July. The index for durables decreased 0.5 percent, but the index for nondurables increased 0.4 percent. Among durable manufacturing industries, the largest decrease, about 3 1/2 percent, was recorded by motor vehicles and parts; in addition, the indexes for primary metals and for furniture and related products each dropped more than 1 percent. Among nondurable manufacturing industries, increases of 1 percent or more were posted by chemicals and by apparel and leather. The index for other manufacturing (publishing and logging) moved down 0.4 percent.

The index for mining rose 0.5 percent in July for its fourth consecutive monthly increase. Within mining, gains in oil and gas extraction and in metal ore mining were partially offset by declines in nonmetallic mineral mining and in drilling and support activities. The decrease of 0.5 percent in drilling and support services followed 10 consecutive months of increases for that index.

Capacity utilization for manufacturing edged down 0.1 percentage point in July to 75.4 percent, a rate that is 3.0 percentage points below its long-run average. The operating rate for durables declined 0.4 percentage point to 74.2 percent, the rate for nondurables increased 0.3 percentage point to 77.7 percent, and the rate for other manufacturing (publishing and logging) was unchanged. Utilization for mining moved up 0.2 percentage point to 84.6 percent, and the rate for utilities increased 1.2 percentage points to 78.1 percent. Capacity utilization rates for both mining and utilities remained well below their long-run averages.

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.

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Last Update: August 17, 2017