INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION
Industrial production contracted 0.1 percent in July, its tenth consecutive monthly decline. Production in the second quarter was revised up but still fell at an annual rate of 4.2 percent. Manufacturing output, which had dropped sharply in June, was unchanged in July; utilities production declined 0.5 percent, and mining output decreased 0.6 percent. At 142.8 percent of its 1992 average, industrial production in July was 3.2 percent lower than in July 2000. Capacity utilization for total industry was 77.0 percent, a level more than 5 percentage points below its 1967-2000 average.
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION: SUMMARY
Seasonally adjusted
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| 1992=100 | Percent change
| ----------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------
| 2001 | 2001 | July '00 to
Industrial production | Apr. May June July | Apr. May June July | July '01
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| | |
Total index | 144.6 144.2 143.0 142.8 | -.3 -.3 -.9 -.1 | -3.2
Previous estimates | 144.2 143.5 142.5 | -.5 -.5 -.7 |
| | |
Major market groups: | | |
Products, total | 133.8 133.6 132.7 132.8 | -.5 -.2 -.6 .1 | -2.2
Consumer goods | 122.1 122.6 122.2 122.8 | -.3 .4 -.3 .5 | -.1
Business equipment | 193.3 191.5 188.2 187.7 | -1.2 -.9 -1.7 -.3 | -3.8
Construction supplies | 139.6 139.4 138.8 138.6 | -.6 -.2 -.4 -.2 | -3.6
Materials | 164.1 163.4 161.5 160.9 | .1 -.4 -1.2 -.3 | -4.8
| | |
Major industry groups: | | |
Manufacturing | 149.6 149.2 147.7 147.7 | -.3 -.2 -1.0 .0 | -3.9
Durable | 190.1 189.8 187.3 187.5 | -.6 -.2 -1.3 .1 | -3.7
Nondurable | 112.8 112.4 111.7 111.6 | .1 -.3 -.6 -.1 | -4.1
Mining | 103.5 103.8 103.1 102.5 | .8 .3 -.7 -.6 | 2.0
Utilities | 120.9 119.0 120.1 119.6 | -.9 -1.6 1.0 -.5 | .4
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| | Capacity
| Percent of capacity | growth
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------
| Average 1982 1988-89 2000 | 2001 | July '00 to
Capacity utilization | 1967-2000 Low High July | Apr. May June July | July '01
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| | |
Total industry | 82.1 71.1 85.4 82.3 | 78.4 78.0 77.2 77.0 | 3.3
Previous estimates | | 78.1 77.6 77.0 |
| | |
Manufacturing | 81.1 69.0 85.7 81.6 | 76.9 76.6 75.7 75.6 | 3.7
Advanced processing | 80.6 71.0 84.2 79.8 | 77.4 77.1 76.4 76.4 | 2.1
Primary processing | 82.2 65.7 88.3 85.6 | 77.2 76.7 75.6 75.3 | 6.5
Mining | 87.4 80.3 88.0 86.3 | 90.0 90.3 89.8 89.3 | -1.4
Utilities | 87.6 75.9 92.6 89.5 | 88.5 86.8 87.4 86.6 | 3.7
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Note: Estimates for July are preliminary. Estimates from April to June are revised.
Market Groups
The output of consumer goods increased 0.5 percent after a decline of 0.3 percent in June. The 2.5 percent rise in the production of durable consumer goods was led by a sizable gain in the output of automotive products, particularly light trucks, which more than offset declines in the production of home electronics and appliances. The output of nondurable consumer goods was unchanged. The output of consumer energy products fell 0.7 percent; the production of non-energy nondurables edged up 0.1 percent, as increases in the production of foods and tobacco, clothing, and chemical products slightly outweighed a drop in the output of paper products.
Continuing its slide of recent months, the index for business equipment declined 0.3 percent in July. The production of information processing equipment fell 1.4 percent, its sixth consecutive monthly decline; since January, production has dropped nearly 7 percent, and the output of communications equipment over the period has been particularly weak. Although the production of transit equipment rose 2.0 percent in July, it remained more than 7 percent below its level in July 2000. The output of industrial and other equipment dipped 0.1 percent in July after having fallen almost 2 percent per month over the previous three months.
The output of business supplies fell 0.5 percent from a downward-revised June estimate; it was the sector's eighth consecutive monthly decline. Among the contributors to the contraction were paper business supplies, newspaper advertising, and job printing. The production of construction supplies fell 0.2 percent.
The output of industrial materials decreased 0.3 percent. The declining output of equipment parts, particularly semiconductors, was responsible for a decrease in the index for durable materials. Among nondurable materials, the output of chemicals, textiles, and paper continued to fall; the production of energy materials fell 0.6 percent.
Industry Groups
After a 1.0 percent contraction in June, manufacturing output held steady in July but remained 3.9 percent below its level in July 2000. After large declines in June, the production of durables edged up 0.1 percent in July, while the production of nondurables fell by the same amount; output in both industry groups remained well below their year-earlier levels. The largest advance among major durable goods industries was in motor vehicles and parts. Smaller gains were recorded by instruments, miscellaneous manufacturing, fabricated metal products, and stone, clay, and glass products. The output of electrical machinery dropped more than 2 percent; furniture and fixtures production also declined. Within nondurables, increases in apparel and in rubber and plastics production were slightly more than offset by declines in petroleum products and in printing and publishing.
The factory operating rate edged down 0.1 percentage point, to 75.6 percent. After June revisions, the utilization rate for primary-processing industries declined to 75.3 percent, while the rate for advanced processing held steady at 76.4 percent. The operating rates of almost all manufacturing industries contracted, as they have through much of the past year. Declines have been particularly notable in the industrial machinery and equipment industry, in which utilization has fallen to 73.5 percent from 82.1 percent in July 2000, and in the electrical machinery industry, in which the rate dropped 23.2 percentage points in the past year. The operating rate at utilities fell 0.8 percentage point to 86.6 percent. The operating rate for mining slipped 0.5 percentage point, to 89.3 percent.
Revision of Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization
