Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization - G.17
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Industrial production fell 1.3 percent in September after moving down 0.1 percent in August; output was previously reported to have risen 0.4 percent in August. In September, manufacturing output decreased 0.7 percent: The production of motor vehicles and parts fell 7.2 percent, as shortages of semiconductors continued to hobble operations, while factory output elsewhere declined 0.3 percent. The output of utilities dropped 3.6 percent, as demand for cooling subsided after a warmer-than-usual August. Mining production fell 2.3 percent.
The lingering effects of Hurricane Ida more than accounted for the drop in mining in September; they also contributed 0.3 percentage point to the drop in manufacturing. Overall, about 0.6 percentage point of the drop in total industrial production resulted from the impact of the hurricane.
Despite the decrease in September, total industrial production rose 4.3 percent at an annual rate for the third quarter as a whole, its fifth consecutive quarter with a gain of at least 4 percent.
At 100.0 percent of its 2017 average, total industrial production in September was 4.6 percent above its year-earlier level. Capacity utilization for the industrial sector fell 1.0 percentage point in September to 75.2 percent, a rate that is 4.4 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2020) average.
Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization: Summary
Industrial production | 2017=100 | Percent change | |||||||||||
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2021 | 2021 | Sept. '20 to Sept. '21 |
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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 | 99.2 | 99.9 | 100.4 | 101.4 | 101.3 | 100.0 | .1 | .7 | .5 | 1.0 | -.1 | -1.3 | 4.6 |
Previous estimates | 99.2 | 99.9 | 100.3 | 101.2 | 101.6 | .1 | .6 | .5 | .8 | .4 | |||
Major market groups | |||||||||||||
Final Products | 99.0 | 99.8 | 99.9 | 101.8 | 101.8 | 100.5 | -.7 | .8 | .1 | 1.9 | -.1 | -1.2 | 4.6 |
Consumer goods | 99.5 | 100.2 | 99.8 | 100.9 | 101.2 | 99.3 | -.4 | .7 | -.4 | 1.1 | .3 | -1.9 | 1.4 |
Business equipment | 92.3 | 93.8 | 93.5 | 96.9 | 96.3 | 96.7 | -1.8 | 1.6 | -.4 | 3.6 | -.6 | .4 | 8.1 |
Nonindustrial supplies | 96.6 | 96.7 | 96.3 | 97.3 | 97.6 | 97.4 | -.3 | .1 | -.3 | 1.0 | .3 | -.3 | 4.8 |
Construction | 100.1 | 99.2 | 98.1 | 99.5 | 100.1 | 100.4 | -1.5 | -.9 | -1.1 | 1.4 | .6 | .2 | 5.0 |
Materials | 100.2 | 101.0 | 102.2 | 102.3 | 102.1 | 100.3 | 1.0 | .8 | 1.2 | .1 | -.3 | -1.7 | 4.6 |
Major industry groups | |||||||||||||
Manufacturing (see note below) | 97.6 | 98.4 | 98.1 | 99.8 | 99.4 | 98.7 | -.2 | .8 | -.3 | 1.7 | -.4 | -.7 | 4.8 |
Previous estimates | 97.5 | 98.3 | 98.0 | 99.5 | 99.7 | -.3 | .8 | -.3 | 1.6 | .2 | |||
Mining | 104.9 | 106.6 | 106.7 | 107.5 | 106.5 | 104.1 | -.5 | 1.6 | .1 | .7 | -.9 | -2.3 | 6.9 |
Utilities | 101.7 | 100.3 | 106.4 | 103.1 | 105.8 | 102.1 | 2.7 | -1.4 | 6.1 | -3.1 | 2.6 | -3.6 | 1.6 |
Capacity utilization | Percent of capacity | Capacity growth |
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---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Average 1972- 2020 |
1988- 89 high |
1990- 91 low |
1994- 95 high |
2009 low |
2020 Sept. |
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2021 | Sept. '20 to Sept. '21 |
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Apr.[r] | May[r] | June[r] | July[r] | Aug.[r] | Sept.[p] | ||||||||
Total industry | 79.6 | 85.2 | 78.8 | 85.1 | 66.6 | 72.1 | 74.8 | 75.3 | 75.6 | 76.3 | 76.2 | 75.2 | .2 |
Previous estimates | 74.8 | 75.2 | 75.6 | 76.2 | 76.4 | ||||||||
Manufacturing (see note below) | 78.2 | 85.6 | 77.3 | 84.7 | 63.5 | 72.4 | 75.1 | 75.7 | 75.5 | 76.8 | 76.5 | 75.9 | .0 |
Previous estimates | 75.0 | 75.6 | 75.4 | 76.6 | 76.7 | ||||||||
Mining | 86.2 | 86.0 | 83.8 | 88.3 | 78.3 | 68.1 | 74.2 | 75.4 | 75.6 | 76.2 | 75.5 | 73.9 | -1.4 |
Utilities | 85.0 | 93.1 | 84.6 | 93.2 | 78.0 | 73.7 | 73.4 | 72.3 | 76.5 | 74.0 | 75.8 | 73.0 | 2.6 |
Stage-of-process groups | |||||||||||||
Crude | 85.4 | 87.7 | 84.6 | 89.7 | 76.5 | 70.2 | 75.1 | 77.1 | 77.3 | 77.6 | 76.8 | 74.5 | -.8 |
Primary and semifinished | 80.2 | 86.5 | 78.1 | 87.9 | 63.5 | 72.2 | 74.5 | 74.3 | 75.1 | 75.1 | 75.5 | 74.5 | .5 |
Finished | 76.8 | 83.4 | 77.5 | 80.7 | 66.5 | 72.5 | 75.0 | 75.6 | 75.6 | 77.4 | 77.0 | 76.6 | .0 |
Market Groups
Much of the weakness in production in September resulted from large decreases for consumer goods and materials. Business equipment, defense and space equipment, and construction supplies recorded small gains, and business supplies recorded a small loss. The index for consumer goods fell 1.9 percent, with large declines in durables, particularly automotive products, and in consumer energy products. Likewise, the index for materials dropped 1.7 percent; both chemical materials and energy materials posted decreases of more than 3 percent as a result of the prolonged hurricane-related outages for industries concentrated near the Gulf of Mexico.
Industry Groups
Manufacturing output fell 0.7 percent in September; even so, the index rose 5.3 percent at an annual rate in the third quarter. Production of durable goods decreased 0.5 percent in September, with a drop of 7.2 percent for motor vehicles and parts. Outside of motor vehicles and parts, the production of durables moved up 0.5 percent, as gains of 1 percent or more were posted by primary metals; electrical equipment, appliances, and components; aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment; furniture and related products; and miscellaneous manufacturing. The output of nondurable goods fell 1.0 percent. The largest increases were recorded by printing and support and by textile and product mills, while the largest decreases were recorded by chemicals and by petroleum and coal products. The output of other manufacturing (publishing and logging) declined 0.2 percent.
Capacity utilization for manufacturing decreased 0.6 percentage point in September to 75.9 percent. The operating rate for mining fell 1.6 percentage points to 73.9 percent, while the operating rate for utilities dropped 2.8 percentage points to 73.0 percent. The rates for all three sectors remained 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.G.17 Release Tables:
- Summary: Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization
- Chart 1: Industrial Production, Capacity, and Capacity Utilization
- Chart 2: Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization
- Chart 3: Industrial Production of Selected Industries
- Table 1: Industrial Production: Market and Industry Groups (percent change)
- Table 2: Industrial Production: Special Aggregates and Selected Detail (percent change)
- Table 3: Motor Vehicle Assemblies
- Table 4: Industrial Production Indexes: Market and Industry Group Summary
- Table 5: Industrial Production Indexes: Special Aggregates
- Table 6: Diffusion Indexes of Industrial Production
- Table 7: Capacity Utilization: Manufacturing, Mining, and Utilities
- Table 8: Industrial Capacity: Manufacturing, Mining, and Utilities (percent change)
- Table 9: Industrial Production: Gross Value of Products and Nonindustrial Supplies
- Table 10: Gross-Value-Weighted Industrial Production: Stage-of-Process Groups
- Table 11: Historical Statistics for IP, Capacity, and Utilization: Total Industry
- Table 12: Historical Statistics for IP, Capacity, and Utilization: Manufacturing
- Table 13: Historical Statistics for IP, Capacity, and Utilization: Total Industry excluding Selected High-Technology Industries
- Table 14: Historical Statistics for IP, Capacity, and Utilization: Manufacturing excluding Selected High-Technology Industries
- Table 15: Industrial Production: Reliability Estimates