Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization - G.17

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Release Date: February 15, 2018
Revision of Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization Notice Below

Industrial production edged down 0.1 percent in January following four consecutive monthly increases. Manufacturing production was unchanged in January. Mining output fell 1.0 percent, with all of its major component industries recording declines, while the index for utilities moved up 0.6 percent. At 107.2 percent of its 2012 average, total industrial production was 3.7 percent higher in January than it was a year earlier. Capacity utilization for the industrial sector fell 0.2 percentage point in January to 77.5 percent, a rate that is 2.3 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2017) average.

Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization: Summary
Seasonally adjusted
Industrial production 2012=100 Percent change
2017 2018
Jan.[p] 		2017 2018
Jan.[p] 		Jan. '17 to
Jan. '18
Aug.[r] Sept.[r] Oct.[r] Nov.[r] Dec.[r] Aug.[r] Sept.[r] Oct.[r] Nov.[r] Dec.[r]
       
Total index 104.6 104.8 106.6 106.9 107.3 107.2 -.4 .2 1.7 .3 .4 -.1 3.7
Previous estimates 104.6 104.8 106.6 106.5 107.5   -.4 .2 1.8 -.1 .9    
       
Major market groups
Final Products 101.5 102.1 103.3 102.8 103.4 103.8 .0 .5 1.2 -.5 .6 .4 3.5
Consumer goods 105.0 105.1 106.5 105.7 106.7 107.0 .0 .1 1.3 -.7 1.0 .3 2.8
Business equipment 100.7 102.4 103.7 103.7 103.4 104.4 -.1 1.7 1.3 .0 -.3 .9 4.8
Nonindustrial supplies 104.5 105.0 106.0 106.4 106.4 105.7 -.5 .5 .9 .4 .0 -.6 .7
Construction 109.1 111.1 111.7 112.6 113.1 111.5 -.8 1.9 .5 .8 .5 -1.4 .9
Materials 106.8 106.7 109.2 110.2 110.5 110.3 -.7 -.1 2.4 .9 .4 -.3 4.7
       
Major industry groups
Manufacturing (see note below) 103.0 103.2 104.6 104.8 104.7 104.8 -.2 .2 1.3 .2 .0 .0 1.8
Previous estimates 103.0 103.1 104.6 104.9 105.0   -.2 .1 1.5 .3 .1    
Mining 108.0 109.8 111.6 113.9 113.5 112.4 -1.1 1.6 1.7 2.1 -.4 -1.0 8.8
Utilities 102.8 101.5 105.6 103.7 108.5 109.2 -1.2 -1.3 4.1 -1.8 4.6 .6 10.8
Capacity utilization Percent of capacity Capacity
growth
Average
1972-
2017 		1988-
89
high 		1990-
91
low 		1994-
95
high 		 
2009
low 		 
2017
Jan. 		   
2017 2018
Jan.[p] 		Jan. '17 to
Jan. '18
Aug.[r] Sept.[r] Oct.[r] Nov.[r] Dec.[r]
       
Total industry 79.8 85.2 78.8 85.0 66.7 75.7 76.0 76.1 77.3 77.5 77.7 77.5 1.2
Previous estimates             76.0 76.1 77.4 77.2 77.9    
       
Manufacturing (see note below) 78.3 85.6 77.3 84.6 63.7 75.4 75.1 75.2 76.2 76.3 76.2 76.2 .7
Previous estimates             75.1 75.2 76.3 76.4 76.4    
Mining 87.0 86.1 83.8 88.6 78.4 80.0 82.2 83.3 84.5 86.0 85.6 84.2 3.3
Utilities 85.4 93.2 84.7 93.2 78.1 73.7 76.6 75.6 78.7 77.2 80.8 81.1 .8
       
Stage-of-process groups
Crude 86.0 87.7 84.5 90.1 76.3 80.4 81.5 80.9 83.5 84.7 84.3 83.2 3.1
Primary and semifinished 80.4 86.5 78.1 87.8 63.8 74.9 75.2 75.2 76.5 76.7 77.4 77.1 .6
Finished 76.9 83.4 77.3 80.6 66.7 74.9 75.0 75.6 76.1 75.7 75.8 76.1 .9
r Revised. p Preliminary.
Market Groups

In January, the output of consumer goods moved up 0.3 percent; much of the gain reflected an increase of 1.0 percent for consumer energy products. The output of durable consumer goods rose about 1/2 percent, while the output of non-energy nondurables was unchanged. Business equipment registered a gain of 0.9 percent mostly as a result of advances of 1.0 percent or more posted by information processing equipment and by industrial and other equipment. The index for defense and space equipment slipped 0.2 percent after having increased in six of the previous seven months. The output of construction supplies dropped 1.4 percent, while the index for business supplies fell back 0.2 percent. The production of materials moved down 0.3 percent, with consumer parts and paper materials posting drops that were greater than 1 percent.

Industry Groups

Manufacturing output was unchanged in January for a second consecutive month; the index has increased 1.8 percent over the past 12 months. Major manufacturing industries recorded a broad mix of gains and losses in January. The production of durables moved up 0.2 percent, and the index for nondurables was unchanged. The output of other manufacturing (publishing and logging) fell 1.4 percent.

In January, the output of mining declined 1.0 percent for a second consecutive monthly loss. Even so, the mining index for January was 8.8 percent higher than its year-earlier level because of strength in the oil and natural gas sector.

Capacity utilization for manufacturing was unchanged in January at 76.2 percent, a rate that is 2.1 percentage points below its long-run average. The operating rate for durables, at 76.1 percent, was less than 1 percentage point below its long-run average, whereas the rates for nondurables and for other manufacturing (publishing and logging), at 77.4 percent and 60.1 percent, respectively, were further below their long-run averages of about 80 percent for each. Utilization for mining fell 1.4 percentage points to 84.2 percent, but the rate for utilities rose 0.3 percentage point to 81.1 percent. Capacity utilization rates for both mining and utilities remained below their long-run averages.

Note: Preliminary Estimates of Industrial Capacity

The data in this release include preliminary estimates of industrial capacity for 2018. Measured from fourth quarter to fourth quarter, total industrial capacity is projected to rise 2.3 percent this year after increasing 1.1 percent in 2017. Manufacturing capacity is expected to advance 1.5 percent in 2018, somewhat faster than the 0.7 percent pace in 2017. Capacity in the mining sector is estimated to rise 6.3 percent in 2018 following a smaller increase of 2.7 percent in 2017. Capacity at electric and natural gas utilities is projected to increase 2.5 percent in 2018 after moving up 0.7 percent in 2017.

Revision of Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization

The Federal Reserve Board plans to issue its annual revision to the index of industrial production (IP) and the related measures of capacity utilization on March 23, 2018. New annual benchmark data for 2016 for manufacturing will be incorporated, as will other annual data, including information on the mining of metallic and nonmetallic minerals (except fuels). The updated IP indexes will include revisions to the monthly indicator (either product data or input data) and to seasonal factors for each industry. In addition, the estimation methods for some series may be changed. Any modifications to the methods for estimating the output of an industry will affect the index from 1972 to the present.

The revision to the historical data for capacity and capacity utilization will incorporate data through the fourth quarter of 2017 from the U.S. Census Bureau's Quarterly Survey of Plant Capacity Utilization along with new data on capacity from the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Department of Energy, and other organizations.

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.

G.17 Release Tables:

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Last Update: February 15, 2018