Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization - G.17

Current Release (273 KB PDF) (ASCII)

Release Date: February 15, 2017

Industrial production decreased 0.3 percent in January following a 0.6 percent increase in December. In January, manufacturing output moved up 0.2 percent, and mining output jumped 2.8 percent. The index for utilities fell 5.7 percent, largely because unseasonably warm weather reduced the demand for heating. At 104.6 percent of its 2012 average, total industrial production in January was at about the same level as it was a year earlier. Capacity utilization for the industrial sector fell 0.3 percentage point in January to 75.3 percent, a rate that is 4.6 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2016) average.

Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization: Summary

Seasonally adjusted
Industrial production 2012=100 Percent change
2016 2017
Jan.[p]
2016 2017
Jan.[p]
Jan. '16 to
Jan. '17
Aug.[r] Sept.[r] Oct.[r] Nov.[r] Dec.[r] Aug.[r] Sept.[r] Oct.[r] Nov.[r] Dec.[r]
       
Total index 104.4 104.1 104.4 104.2 104.8 104.6 -.1 -.3 .3 -.2 .6 -.3 .0
Previous estimates 104.4 104.2 104.4 103.7 104.6   -.1 -.2 .2 -.7 .8    
       
Major market groups
Final Products 101.1 100.9 100.9 100.3 101.4 101.0 .1 -.2 .0 -.7 1.2 -.4 .3
Consumer goods 104.3 104.0 103.9 102.9 104.3 103.5 .3 -.2 -.2 -.9 1.4 -.8 -.1
Business equipment 102.2 102.0 102.2 101.8 102.6 102.7 -.5 -.2 .3 -.5 .8 .1 1.2
Nonindustrial supplies 105.0 105.4 105.4 105.7 105.7 105.8 -.5 .3 .1 .2 .0 .0 -.4
Construction 108.1 108.6 109.4 110.4 109.8 110.8 -1.0 .5 .8 .8 -.5 .9 .7
Materials 106.8 106.2 106.9 106.9 107.2 107.0 -.1 -.6 .6 .0 .2 -.2 -.1
       
Major industry groups
Manufacturing (see note below) 102.9 103.0 103.3 103.3 103.5 103.8 -.4 .1 .3 .0 .2 .2 .3
Previous estimates 102.8 102.9 103.2 103.0 103.2   -.5 .1 .3 -.1 .2    
Mining 103.4 102.9 107.1 107.3 105.7 108.6 -1.1 -.4 4.1 .2 -1.4 2.8 .4
Utilities 108.1 105.1 102.3 99.7 104.8 98.8 2.8 -2.8 -2.7 -2.5 5.1 -5.7 -2.6

Capacity utilization Percent of capacity Capacity
growth
Average
1972-
2016
1988-
89
high
1990-
91
low
1994-
95
high
 
2009
low
 
2016
Jan.
   
2016 2017
Jan.[p]
Jan. '16 to
Jan. '17
Aug.[r] Sept.[r] Oct.[r] Nov.[r] Dec.[r]
       
Total industry 79.9 85.3 78.8 85.0 66.7 75.7 75.5 75.3 75.5 75.2 75.6 75.3 .5
Previous estimates             75.5 75.3 75.4 74.9 75.5    
       
Manufacturing (see note below) 78.4 85.6 77.3 84.6 63.8 75.5 74.7 74.8 75.0 74.9 75.0 75.1 .8
Previous estimates             74.7 74.7 74.9 74.7 74.8    
Mining 87.0 86.2 83.8 88.6 79.0 76.3 74.6 74.5 77.7 78.0 77.1 79.1 -3.2
Utilities 85.6 93.2 84.7 93.2 78.2 77.7 82.5 80.1 77.9 75.9 79.7 75.1 .8
       
Stage-of-process groups
Crude 86.1 87.6 84.5 90.1 77.0 76.7 75.5 75.6 77.8 78.5 77.8 79.5 -2.3
Primary and semifinished 80.5 86.5 78.1 87.8 63.8 75.9 76.0 75.5 75.1 74.8 75.5 74.6 1.0
Finished 76.9 83.4 77.3 80.6 66.6 75.3 75.0 75.0 75.1 74.8 75.2 75.1 .7
r Revised. p Preliminary.
Market Groups

In January, most of the major non-energy market groups recorded increases, but the drop in the output of utilities contributed substantially to losses in the overall indexes for consumer goods, business supplies, and materials through their energy components. The decrease of 0.8 percent for overall consumer goods reflected both a drop in consumer energy products and a decline in consumer durables. The decline for consumer durables resulted primarily from a loss of 2.8 percent for its largest major category, automotive products. The index for consumer non-energy nondurables rose 0.3 percent by virtue of an increase in the foods and tobacco product group. The output of business equipment edged up, as gains in information processing equipment and in industrial and other equipment offset a decline in transit equipment. The index for defense and space equipment remained unchanged from its level in December. The output of construction supplies advanced 0.9 percent, while the index for non-energy business supplies gained 0.3 percent. The production of non-energy materials moved up 0.5 percent, with improvement in both durable and nondurable materials.

Industry Groups

The index for manufacturing output rose 0.2 percent in January. Although the output of motor vehicles and parts decreased 2.9 percent, production elsewhere in manufacturing moved up 0.5 percent. The production of durables edged down, but most of its components other than motor vehicles and parts recorded gains; machinery manufacturing registered the biggest advance. The index for nondurables rose 0.6 percent, as increases of 1 percent or more were posted by textile and product mills, by petroleum and coal products, and by chemicals. The output of other manufacturing (publishing and logging) fell 0.7 percent.

The output of mining jumped 2.8 percent in January after declining in December, with most mining industries posting increases. The mining index in January was 0.4 percent higher than its year-earlier level.

Capacity utilization for manufacturing moved up 0.1 percentage point in January to 75.1 percent, a rate that is 3.3 percentage points below its long-run average. The operating rate for durables, at 76.2 percent, is 0.7 percentage point below its long-run average; the rates for nondurables and for other manufacturing (publishing and logging), at 75.0 percent and 59.9 percent, respectively, remain substantially below their long-run averages (about 80 percent for each). Utilization for mining moved up 2.0 percentage points, to 79.1 percent, but the rate for utilities fell 4.6 percentage points, to 75.1 percent. Capacity utilization rates for both mining and utilities are well below their long-run averages.

Note: Preliminary Estimates of Industrial Capacity

The data in this release include preliminary estimates of industrial capacity for 2017. Measured from fourth quarter to fourth quarter, total industrial capacity is projected to rise 1.3 percent this year after increasing 0.4 percent in 2016. Manufacturing capacity is expected to advance 1.1 percent in 2017, somewhat faster than the 0.7 percent pace in 2016. Capacity in the mining sector is estimated to rise 0.9 percent in 2017 after falling 3.4 percent in 2016. Capacity at electric and natural gas utilities is projected to increase 0.8 percent, about the same rate as in the three previous years.

Revision of Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization

The Federal Reserve Board plans to issue its annual revision to the index of industrial production (IP) and the related measures of capacity utilization on March 31, 2017. New annual benchmark data for 2015 for manufacturing will be incorporated, as will 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 through the fourth quarter of 2016 from the U.S. Census Bureau's Quarterly Survey of Plant Capacity 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:

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 and Capacity Utilization, High Technology 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

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Last update: February 15, 2017