Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization - G.17

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Release Date: February 15, 2023
Revision of Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization Notice Below

Industrial production was unchanged in January after falling 0.6 percent and 1.0 percent in November and December, respectively. In January, manufacturing output moved up 1.0 percent and mining output rose 2.0 percent following two months with substantial decreases for each sector. The output of utilities fell 9.9 percent in January, as a swing from unseasonably cool weather in December to unseasonably warm weather in January depressed the demand for heating. At 103.0 percent of its 2017 average, total industrial production in January was 0.8 percent above its year-earlier level. Capacity utilization declined 0.1 percentage point in January to 78.3 percent, a rate that is 1.3 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2022) average.

Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization: Summary
Seasonally adjusted
Industrial production 2017=100 Percent change
2022 2023
Jan.[p] 		2022 2023
Jan.[p] 		Jan. '22 to
Jan. '23
Aug.[r] Sept.[r] Oct.[r] Nov.[r] Dec.[r] Aug.[r] Sept.[r] Oct.[r] Nov.[r] Dec.[r]
       
Total index 104.4 104.6 104.6 104.0 102.9 103.0 -.1 .2 .0 -.6 -1.0 .0 .8
Previous estimates 104.5 104.8 104.8 104.2 103.4   .0 .3 .0 -.6 -.7    
       
Major market groups
Final Products 104.9 104.7 105.4 104.8 104.1 104.0 .3 -.2 .7 -.7 -.6 -.1 1.1
Consumer goods 104.6 104.0 104.9 104.3 104.1 103.4 .1 -.5 .8 -.6 -.2 -.7 -.9
Business equipment 98.0 98.5 98.9 97.6 95.7 96.9 .5 .5 .4 -1.3 -2.0 1.2 3.7
Nonindustrial supplies 101.8 101.9 101.7 101.4 99.9 100.2 -.4 .1 -.2 -.3 -1.5 .2 -1.1
Construction 104.1 104.3 104.2 103.8 102.5 103.3 -.3 .1 .0 -.4 -1.3 .8 -.4
Materials 104.7 105.2 104.8 104.1 102.9 103.0 -.3 .5 -.5 -.6 -1.2 .1 1.1
       
Major industry groups
Manufacturing (see note below) 101.5 101.5 101.9 101.1 99.3 100.2 .0 .1 .4 -.8 -1.8 1.0 .3
Previous estimates 101.7 101.9 102.2 101.1 99.8   .2 .2 .3 -1.1 -1.3    
Mining 116.9 119.2 119.2 117.6 116.2 118.5 .0 1.9 .0 -1.4 -1.2 2.0 8.6
Utilities 106.4 104.2 101.5 104.3 109.6 98.7 -1.3 -2.1 -2.6 2.7 5.1 -9.9 -8.9

Capacity utilization Percent of capacity Capacity
growth
Average
1972-
2022 		1988-
89
high 		1990-
91
low 		1994-
95
high 		 
2009
low 		 
2022
Jan. 		   
2022 2023
Jan.[p] 		Jan. '22 to
Jan. '23
Aug.[r] Sept.[r] Oct.[r] Nov.[r] Dec.[r]
       
Total industry 79.6 85.2 78.8 85.0 66.6 78.9 79.8 79.9 79.8 79.3 78.4 78.3 1.6
Previous estimates             79.9 80.1 80.0 79.4 78.8    
       
Manufacturing (see note below) 78.2 85.6 77.3 84.7 63.4 78.3 79.0 79.0 79.2 78.5 77.1 77.7 1.0
Previous estimates             79.2 79.3 79.5 78.5 77.5    
Mining 86.3 86.2 84.3 88.6 78.9 84.6 88.4 89.9 89.8 88.5 87.4 89.0 3.2
Utilities 84.5 92.9 84.5 92.9 78.0 77.3 74.7 73.1 71.0 72.8 76.4 68.6 2.6
       
Stage-of-process groups
Crude 85.5 87.9 84.8 90.0 76.9 83.7 86.7 87.6 87.4 86.3 84.9 86.4 2.4
Primary and semifinished 80.1 86.5 78.0 87.8 63.5 78.4 78.2 78.0 77.5 77.4 76.9 75.2 1.1
Finished 76.8 83.3 77.5 80.7 66.4 77.7 78.7 78.6 79.2 78.4 77.4 78.5 1.6
[r] Revised. [p] Preliminary.
Market Groups

Consumer energy products, commercial energy products, and energy materials all recorded substantial decreases because of the drop in the output of utilities. The output of most other market groups advanced. The indexes for consumer non-energy nondurables, business equipment, defense and space equipment, and nondurable materials all rose more than 1 percent; the indexes for consumer durables, construction supplies, non-energy business supplies, and durable materials increased between 1/2 and 1 percent.

Industry Groups

Manufacturing output rose 1.0 percent in January. Durable, nondurable, and other manufacturing recorded advances of 0.8 percent, 1.1 percent, and 2.2 percent, respectively. Within durables, gains of at least 1 percent were recorded by nonmetallic mineral products, by machinery, by computer and electronic products, by electrical equipment, appliances, and components, and by aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment; wood products and furniture posted the only losses. Gains of more than 1-1/2 percent were posted by chemicals and by food, beverage, and tobacco products, the two largest industry groups within nondurables; declines in printing and support, in petroleum and coal products, and in plastics and rubber products tempered the overall gain for the sector.

Mining output rose 2.0 percent in January, with gains in most of its components other than oil and gas well drilling; the output of mines was 8.6 percent above its reading of 12 months earlier. The output of utilities dropped 9.9 percent in January, with decreases for both electric and natural gas utilities.

Capacity utilization for manufacturing increased 0.6 percentage point in January to 77.7 percent, a rate that is 0.5 percentage point below its long-run average. The operating rate for mining rose 1.6 percentage points to 89.0 percent, while the operating rate for utilities fell 7.8 percentage points to 68.6 percent. The rate for mining was 2.7 percentage points above its long-run average. The rate for utilities was the lowest in the history of the index (since 1972).

Note: Preliminary Estimates of Industrial Capacity

The data in this release include preliminary estimates of industrial capacity for 2023 (table 8). Measured from fourth quarter to fourth quarter, total industrial capacity is projected to rise 1.4 percent this year, a slightly slower increase compared with 2022. Manufacturing capacity is expected to move up 1.2 percent in 2023 after increasing 1.0 percent in 2022. Capacity in the mining sector is estimated to rise 0.5 percent in 2023 after jumping 3.5 percent in 2022. Capacity at electric and natural gas utilities is projected to increase 3.0 percent in 2023 after expanding 2.6 percent in 2022.

Revision of Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization

The Federal Reserve Board plans to issue its annual revision to the indexes of industrial production (IP) and the related measures of capacity utilization in the spring of 2023. New annual benchmark data for manufacturing for 2021 will be incorporated, as well as 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.

Capacity and capacity utilization will be revised to incorporate data for manufacturing through the fourth quarter of 2022 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, 2023