Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization - G.17
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Industrial production rose 1.6 percent in October after falling 1.3 percent in September; about half of the gain in October reflected a recovery from the effects of Hurricane Ida. Manufacturing output increased 1.2 percent in October; excluding a large gain in the production of motor vehicles and parts, factory output moved up 0.6 percent. The output of utilities rose 1.2 percent, and mining output stepped up 4.1 percent.
At 101.6 percent of its 2017 average, total industrial production in October was 5.1 percent above its year-earlier level and at its highest reading since December 2019. In October, capacity utilization for the industrial sector increased 1.2 percentage points to 76.4 percent; even so, it was still 3.2 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 | Oct. '20 to Oct. '21 |
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May[r] | June[r] | July[r] | Aug.[r] | Sept.[r] | Oct.[p] | May[r] | June[r] | July[r] | Aug.[r] | Sept.[r] | Oct.[p] | ||
Total index | 99.9 | 100.4 | 101.3 | 101.3 | 100.0 | 101.6 | .7 | .5 | .8 | .0 | -1.3 | 1.6 | 5.1 |
Previous estimates | 99.9 | 100.4 | 101.4 | 101.3 | 100.0 | .7 | .5 | 1.0 | -.1 | -1.3 | |||
Major market groups | |||||||||||||
Final Products | 99.8 | 99.8 | 101.6 | 101.4 | 100.3 | 101.6 | .7 | .0 | 1.8 | -.1 | -1.1 | 1.3 | 5.0 |
Consumer goods | 100.1 | 99.7 | 100.8 | 100.8 | 99.3 | 100.7 | .6 | -.3 | 1.0 | .0 | -1.5 | 1.4 | 2.6 |
Business equipment | 93.8 | 93.3 | 96.3 | 95.7 | 95.4 | 95.5 | 1.6 | -.5 | 3.3 | -.7 | -.3 | .2 | 5.9 |
Nonindustrial supplies | 96.6 | 96.3 | 97.2 | 97.7 | 97.8 | 98.4 | .0 | -.4 | .9 | .5 | .2 | .6 | 3.7 |
Construction | 99.2 | 98.1 | 99.4 | 99.7 | 101.3 | 101.4 | -.9 | -1.2 | 1.4 | .3 | 1.6 | .1 | 3.3 |
Materials | 101.1 | 102.3 | 102.3 | 102.2 | 100.3 | 102.6 | .9 | 1.2 | -.1 | .0 | -1.9 | 2.3 | 5.8 |
Major industry groups | |||||||||||||
Manufacturing (see note below) | 98.4 | 98.1 | 99.6 | 99.3 | 98.6 | 99.8 | .8 | -.3 | 1.5 | -.3 | -.7 | 1.2 | 4.5 |
Previous estimates | 98.4 | 98.1 | 99.8 | 99.4 | 98.7 | .8 | -.3 | 1.7 | -.4 | -.7 | |||
Mining | 106.7 | 106.8 | 107.2 | 106.6 | 104.1 | 108.4 | 1.7 | .2 | .4 | -.6 | -2.3 | 4.1 | 11.8 |
Utilities | 100.3 | 106.4 | 103.1 | 106.1 | 102.2 | 103.4 | -1.4 | 6.1 | -3.1 | 2.9 | -3.7 | 1.2 | 3.0 |
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 Oct. |
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2021 | Oct. '20 to Oct. '21 |
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May[r] | June[r] | July[r] | Aug.[r] | Sept.[r] | Oct.[p] | ||||||||
Total industry | 79.6 | 85.2 | 78.8 | 85.1 | 66.6 | 72.9 | 75.3 | 75.6 | 76.2 | 76.2 | 75.2 | 76.4 | .3 |
Previous estimates | 75.3 | 75.6 | 76.3 | 76.2 | 75.2 | ||||||||
Manufacturing (see note below) | 78.2 | 85.6 | 77.3 | 84.7 | 63.5 | 73.5 | 75.7 | 75.5 | 76.6 | 76.4 | 75.8 | 76.7 | .0 |
Previous estimates | 75.7 | 75.5 | 76.8 | 76.5 | 75.9 | ||||||||
Mining | 86.2 | 86.0 | 83.8 | 88.3 | 78.3 | 67.9 | 75.5 | 75.7 | 76.0 | 75.6 | 73.8 | 76.9 | -1.3 |
Utilities | 85.0 | 93.1 | 84.6 | 93.2 | 78.0 | 73.4 | 72.3 | 76.5 | 74.0 | 76.0 | 73.0 | 73.8 | 2.6 |
Stage-of-process groups | |||||||||||||
Crude | 85.4 | 87.7 | 84.6 | 89.7 | 76.5 | 71.0 | 77.4 | 77.6 | 77.7 | 77.1 | 74.6 | 77.8 | -.7 |
Primary and semifinished | 80.2 | 86.5 | 78.1 | 87.9 | 63.5 | 73.2 | 74.3 | 75.1 | 75.0 | 75.4 | 74.6 | 75.5 | .6 |
Finished | 76.8 | 83.4 | 77.5 | 80.7 | 66.5 | 73.2 | 75.6 | 75.5 | 77.1 | 76.9 | 76.4 | 77.0 | .0 |
Market Groups
All major market groups posted gains in October; the largest increases were for materials, consumer goods, and defense and space equipment. The index for consumer goods advanced 1.4 percent, an increase driven mostly by a rise in automotive products. The index for materials moved up 2.3 percent, with gains in its durable, nondurable, and energy components. The increase in durable materials included a sizable contribution from motor vehicle parts, while the gains in nondurable and energy materials largely reflected a return to operation for many chemical and energy facilities that had been offline due to Hurricane Ida.
Industry Groups
In October, manufacturing output rose 1.2 percent, reaching its highest level since March 2019. The indexes for both durable and nondurable goods advanced 1.3 percent, while the index for other manufacturing (logging and publishing) fell 1.5 percent. Within durables, the largest increase was posted by motor vehicles and parts, while a strike at a major manufacturer contributed to a decrease of 1.3 percent for machinery. Within nondurables, the index for petroleum and coal products moved up 5.0 percent; gains of more than 1 percent were also recorded by printing and support and by chemicals.
Capacity utilization for manufacturing increased 0.9 percentage point in October to 76.7 percent, its highest rate since January 2019. The operating rate for mining jumped 3.1 percentage points to 76.9 percent, while the operating rate for utilities rose 0.8 percentage point to 73.8 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