Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization:
The 2006 Annual Revision
Figure 6 is titled "Capacity utilization: Selected high-technology industries, January 1996-April 2007." The figure has three panels; each panel shows the revised and previous utilization rates for the selected high-technology industries; the data are plotted as curves against a ratio scale in units of percent. The top panel covers computers and peripheral equipment, the middle panel covers communications equipment, and the bottom panel covers semiconductors and related electronic components. Each panel has a shaded region for the 2001 recession, as defined by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The operating rate for computers and peripherals was revised to show slightly higher rates in late 2004 through early 2005 and then lower rates after that; most of the recent rates are about 7 percentage points lower than the earlier estimates. The operating rate for communications equipment was revised to show lower rates from mid-2004 onward; the most recent rates are 12 to 15 percentage points lower than the earlier estimates. The operating rate for semiconductors and related electronic components was revised to show lower rates in late 2004 and early 2005 and then higher rates after that. The contour for the series since 2004 is somewhat different. The revised data peak in the first half of 2004 instead of second half. The revised utilization rates slow through 2004 and then increase through late 2006 instead of falling from mid-2004 through mid-2006 and then jumping. The most recent rates for this industry were little changed from the previous estimates.