Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization - G.17

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Release Date: June 18, 2024
Revision of Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization Notice Below

Industrial production rose 0.9 percent in May. Manufacturing output posted a similar gain of 0.9 percent after declining in the previous two months. The index for mining increased 0.3 percent in May, and the index for utilities advanced 1.6 percent. At 103.3 percent of its 2017 average, total industrial production in May was 0.4 percent higher than its year-earlier level. Capacity utilization moved up to 78.7 percent in May, a rate that is 0.9 percentage point below its long-run (1972–2023) average.

Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization: Summary
Seasonally adjusted
Industrial production 2017=100 Percent change
2023
Dec.[r] 		2024 2023
Dec.[r] 		2024 May '23 to
May '24
Jan.[r] Feb.[r] Mar.[r] Apr.[r] May[p] Jan.[r] Feb.[r] Mar.[r] Apr.[r] May[p]
       
Total index 102.6 101.7 102.6 102.4 102.5 103.3 -.3 -.8 .8 -.1 .0 .9 .4
Previous estimates 102.6 101.8 102.6 102.8 102.8   -.3 -.8 .8 .1 .0    
       
Major market groups
Final Products 101.3 100.8 101.2 101.0 101.0 102.0 -.4 -.5 .4 -.2 .0 1.0 .2
Consumer goods 102.0 101.7 101.7 101.4 101.5 102.8 -.4 -.3 .0 -.3 .1 1.3 .0
Business equipment 95.6 94.4 96.1 95.9 95.6 95.8 -.7 -1.3 1.8 -.2 -.3 .2 -.4
Nonindustrial supplies 99.8 99.2 100.7 100.4 100.2 100.8 -.4 -.6 1.6 -.3 -.2 .6 .8
Construction 100.7 99.3 102.1 101.8 100.6 100.7 -.3 -1.4 2.8 -.2 -1.2 .1 -1.1
Materials 104.7 103.5 104.5 104.5 104.5 105.4 -.2 -1.1 1.0 .0 .1 .8 .5
       
Major industry groups
Manufacturing (see note below) 99.4 98.1 99.5 99.4 99.0 99.8 .0 -1.3 1.4 -.1 -.4 .9 .1
Previous estimates 99.3 98.2 99.5 99.7 99.4   .0 -1.2 1.4 .2 -.3    
Mining 119.9 114.3 118.9 118.5 117.6 117.9 .7 -4.6 4.0 -.4 -.7 .3 -.4
Utilities 102.0 109.7 102.1 101.9 106.0 107.8 -4.0 7.6 -6.9 -.3 4.1 1.6 3.9

Capacity utilization Percent of capacity Capacity
growth
Average
1972-
2023 		1988-
89
high 		1990-
91
low 		1994-
95
high 		 
2009
low 		 
2023
May 		   
2023
Dec.[r] 		2024 May '23 to
May '24
Jan.[r] Feb.[r] Mar.[r] Apr.[r] May[p]
       
Total industry 79.6 85.2 78.8 85.0 66.6 79.5 78.6 77.9 78.4 78.3 78.2 78.7 1.4
Previous estimates             78.6 77.9 78.5 78.5 78.4    
       
Manufacturing (see note below) 78.2 85.6 77.3 84.6 63.4 78.2 77.3 76.2 77.2 77.0 76.6 77.1 1.4
Previous estimates             77.3 76.2 77.2 77.2 76.9    
Mining 86.5 86.3 84.3 88.6 78.9 92.6 94.3 89.9 93.5 93.2 92.5 92.7 -.5
Utilities 84.4 93.2 84.7 93.2 78.1 71.2 68.7 73.7 68.4 68.0 70.6 71.5 3.5
       
Stage-of-process groups
Crude 85.7 87.9 84.8 90.0 76.9 90.5 91.8 88.0 90.8 90.7 89.5 90.3 -.4
Primary and semifinished 80.2 86.5 78.0 87.8 63.6 76.9 76.0 76.4 75.9 75.8 76.0 76.7 1.5
Finished 76.7 83.4 77.5 80.7 66.3 77.1 75.5 74.6 75.5 75.1 75.0 75.4 2.2
[r] Revised. [p] Preliminary.

Market Groups

Gains were widespread across the major market groups in May. The index for consumer goods rose 1.3 percent with increases in all its components except for home electronics. Business equipment posted a small gain of 0.2 percent as a decrease in the transit component was outweighed by gains in the information processing component and in the industrial and other component. The index for defense and space equipment rose 1.0 percent and was nearly 10 percent above its year-earlier level. In May, the materials market group posted a gain of 0.8 percent, as the indexes for non-energy durables and non-energy nondurables each recorded increases of around 1 percent; energy materials rose 0.6 percent.

Industry Groups

Manufacturing output increased 0.9 percent in May and was 0.1 percent above its year-earlier level. In May, the index for durable manufacturing rose 0.6 percent, the index for nondurable manufacturing jumped 1.1 percent, and the index for other manufacturing (publishing and logging) moved up 0.2 percent.

Most industry groups within durable manufacturing posted gains in May. The largest increases were in the indexes for wood products, for machinery, and for computer and electronic products, which rose 2.6 percent, 2.3 percent, and 0.8 percent, respectively. Output of furniture and related products recorded the largest decrease (2.6 percent), and the index was about 7 percent below year-earlier levels. Within nondurables, the output of printing and support fell 1.5 percent in May; all other nondurable categories posted gains.

Mining output increased 0.3 percent in May after declining in the previous two months. Within mining, an increase in the index for oil and gas extraction in May was partly offset by declines in the indexes for other mining and for support activities. The output of utilities advanced 1.6 percent and was 3.9 percent above its year-earlier level.

Capacity utilization for manufacturing moved up in May to 77.1 percent, a rate that is 1.1 percentage points below its long-run average. The operating rate for mining inched up 0.2 percentage point to 92.7 percent, while the operating rate for utilities increased 0.9 percentage point to 71.5 percent. The rate for mining was 6.2 percentage points above its long-run average, while the rate for utilities remained substantially below its long-run average.

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 on June 28, 2024. The Economic Census for 2022 was not available from the U.S. Census Bureau by early 2024, so no new annual benchmark data will be included for manufacturing. Other annual data, including information on the mining of metallic and nonmetallic minerals (except fuels), will be incorporated. 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 2023 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.

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Last Update: June 18, 2024