Federal Reserve Statistical Release, G.17, Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization; title with eagle logo links to Statistical Release home page
Release Date: July 16, 2008
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INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION

Industrial production advanced 0.5 percent in June after having fallen 0.2 percent in May. Industrial production for the second quarter as a whole dropped 3.1 percent (annual rate) from the first quarter. Manufacturing output gained 0.2 percent in June and was boosted by a jump of 5.4 percent in the output of motor vehicles and parts; activity resumed at motor vehicle parts and assembly plants that had been idled by a strike that began in late February and ended in late May. Excluding motor vehicles and parts, factory output edged down 0.1 percent. Outside of manufacturing, the output at mines increased 1.1 percent, and the output at utilities was up 2.1 percent. At 111.7 percent of its 2002 average, total industrial production was 0.3 percent above its level of a year earlier. In June, the capacity utilization rate for total industry moved up to 79.9 percent, a level 1.1 percentage points below its average for 1972-2007.

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION: SUMMARY
Seasonally adjusted
 
 
Industrial production
2002=100 Percent change
2008 2008 June '07 to
June '08
Jan.[r] Feb.[r] Mar.[r] Apr.[r] May[r] June[p] Jan.[r] Feb.[r] Mar.[r] Apr.[r] May[r] June[p]
       
Total index  112.6  112.2  112.2  111.4  111.2  111.7     .2    -.4     .1    -.7    -.2     .5     .3
   Previous estimates  112.5  111.8  111.9  111.1  110.9           .1    -.6     .1    -.7    -.2    
       
Major market groups      
Final Products  114.0  113.7  113.4  112.2  112.1  112.8     .4    -.3    -.2   -1.1    -.1     .7    -.1
   Consumer goods  108.0  107.8  107.2  106.1  105.9  106.7     .6    -.2    -.5   -1.0    -.2     .7    -.8
   Business equipment  131.4  131.1  132.0  129.8  130.0  130.3     .2    -.2     .7   -1.7     .2     .2    1.6
Nonindustrial supplies  107.7  107.0  107.1  106.5  106.2  106.1     .1    -.6     .1    -.6    -.2    -.1   -1.9
   Construction  103.6  102.3  102.1  101.0  101.4  100.6    -.6   -1.3    -.2   -1.1     .5    -.9   -6.3
Materials  113.0  112.6  112.9  112.4  112.1  112.7    -.1    -.4     .3    -.4    -.3     .5    1.5
       
Major industry groups      
Manufacturing (see note below)  113.8  113.1  113.4  112.3  112.3  112.5     .0    -.7     .2    -.9    -.1     .2    -.6
   Previous estimates  113.8  113.0  113.3  112.3  112.3           .0    -.7     .2    -.9     .0    
Mining  103.2  103.6  103.7  103.3  103.6  104.7    -.7     .3     .1    -.4     .3    1.1    3.8
Utilities  110.8  112.1  110.4  110.8  108.5  110.8    2.4    1.1   -1.5     .4   -2.1    2.1    4.0


 
 
 
 
Capacity utilization
 
Percent of capacity
Capacity
growth
Average
1972-
2007
1988-
89
high
1990-
91
low
1994-
95
high
2001-
02
low
 
2007
June
   
2008 June '07 to
June '08
Jan.[r] Feb.[r] Mar.[r] Apr.[r] May[r] June[p]
       
Total industry   81.0   85.0   78.6   85.1   73.6   81.0   81.0   80.3   80.5   79.9   79.6   79.9    1.8
   Previous estimates                                       81.0   80.3   80.3   79.6   79.4            
       
Manufacturing (see note below)   79.7   85.4   77.1   84.6   71.5   79.6   79.1   78.4   78.5   77.7   77.6   77.6    2.0
   Previous estimates                                       79.1   78.4   78.5   77.7   77.5            
Mining   87.5   86.3   83.6   88.7   84.8   88.8   90.4   90.5   90.5   90.1   90.3   91.2    1.0
Utilities   86.8   92.7   84.1   93.9   84.6   85.0   87.5   85.8   86.7   86.9   84.9   86.5    2.2
       
Stage-of-process groups      
Crude   86.6   88.3   84.4   89.5   81.9   88.2   89.4   89.4   89.6   89.1   89.6   89.7     .8
Primary and semifinished   82.2   86.4   77.8   88.2   74.6   81.7   81.4   80.3   80.6   80.2   79.6   79.9    2.2
Finished   77.7   82.8   77.1   80.4   69.9   77.7   77.5   77.0   77.1   75.9   75.8   76.0    1.9

Market Groups

The production of consumer goods increased 0.7 percent in June. The output of automotive products surged 6.2 percent, but other major categories of consumer durables posted declines. The indexes for appliances, furniture, and carpeting and for miscellaneous consumer goods both fell; although the index for home electronics also declined in June, it increased 24.3 percent (annual rate) in the second quarter. The production of nondurable goods advanced 0.2 percent in June. Higher output of both fuels and electricity helped push the index for consumer energy products up 1.2 percent. Non-energy nondurable consumer goods declined 0.1 percent, as a drop in the production of foods and tobacco more than offset increases in the output of clothing, chemical products, and paper products. For the second quarter, the indexes for clothing, chemical products, and paper products all fell, but the index for foods and tobacco posted an increase.

The output of business equipment rose 0.2 percent in June. Production of transit equipment was up 1.7 percent, and the index for information processing and related equipment increased 1.1 percent. The output of industrial and other equipment fell 0.8 percent, and for the second quarter as a whole, this index declined at an annual rate of 10.6 percent.

The output of defense and space equipment increased 1.2 percent in June after having fallen in the previous four months.

Among nonindustrial supplies, the production of construction supplies was off 0.9 percent in June; it dropped 6.5 percent (annual rate) in the second quarter. The index for business supplies edged up 0.1 percent in June, but it still fell 2.7 percent (annual rate) for the second quarter as a whole.

Materials output increased 0.5 percent in June, in part because of an increase of 1.0 percent in energy materials. Excluding energy, materials output moved up 0.3 percent. The production of durable materials advanced 0.7 percent: A pickup in the production of motor vehicle parts boosted the index for consumer parts, and an increase in the index for semiconductors, printed circuit boards, and other equipment helped push up the index for equipment parts. The production of nondurable materials fell 0.4 percent, with declines in all the major components: textiles, paper, and chemicals.

Industry Groups

Production in manufacturing increased 0.2 percent in June. The factory operating rate was unchanged at 77.6 percent, a level 2.1 percentage points below its 1972-2007 average. For the second quarter as a whole, manufacturing output decreased 3.7 percent (annual rate); this index has posted declines for the past three quarters. Production of durable goods rose 0.7 percent in June. In addition to the jump in the output of motor vehicles and parts, the indexes for wood products, primary metals, computer and electronic products, and aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment all posted gains. The indexes for nonmetallic mineral products, fabricated metal products, machinery, furniture and related products, and miscellaneous manufacturing moved lower. The output of nondurable goods fell 0.3 percent. Declines in the indexes for food, beverage, and tobacco products; textiles and product mills; paper; printing and support; and chemicals were only partly offset by higher output of apparel and leather products, petroleum and coal products, and plastics and rubber products.

The index for other manufacturing industries (non-NAICS), which consist of logging and publishing, rose 0.8 percent.

The output of electric and gas utilities increased 2.1 percent in June, and the operating rate for utilities moved up 1.6 percentage points, to 86.5 percent. Mining production advanced 1.1 percent, and capacity utilization in this industry rose to 91.2 percent, a rate 3.7 percentage points above its 1972-2007 average.

Capacity utilization rates at industries grouped by stage of process were as follows: For the crude stage, utilization edged up 0.1 percentage point, to 89.7 percent, a rate 3.1 percentage points above its 1972-2007 average; for the primary and semifinished stages, utilization moved up 0.3 percentage point, to 79.9 percent, a rate 2.3 percentage points below its long-run average; and for the finished stage, utilization increased 0.2 percentage point, to 76.0 percent, a rate 1.7 percentage points below its long-run average.

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:

Ascii Screen reader Summary: Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization
Chart   Chart 1: Industrial Production, Capacity, and Capacity Utilization
Chart   Chart 2: Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization
Chart   Chart 3: Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization, High Technology Industries
Ascii Screen reader Table 1: Industrial Production: Market and Industry Groups (percent change)
Ascii Screen reader Table 2: Industrial Production: Special Aggregates and Selected Detail (percent change)
Ascii Screen reader Table 3: Motor Vehicle Assemblies
Ascii Screen reader Table 4: Industrial Production Indexes: Market and Industry Group Summary
Ascii Screen reader Table 5: Industrial Production Indexes: Special Aggregates
Ascii Screen reader Table 6: Diffusion Indexes of Industrial Production
Ascii Screen reader Table 7: Capacity Utilization: Manufacturing, Mining, and Utilities
Ascii Screen reader Table 8: Industrial Capacity: Manufacturing, Mining, and Utilities (percent change)
Ascii Screen reader Table 9: Industrial Production: Gross Value of Products and Nonindustrial Supplies
Ascii Screen reader Table 10: Gross-Value-Weighted Industrial Production: Stage-of-Process Groups
Ascii Screen reader Table 11: Historical Statistics for IP, Capacity, and Utilization: Total Industry
Ascii Screen reader Table 12: Historical Statistics for IP, Capacity, and Utilization: Manufacturing
Ascii Screen reader Table 13: Historical Statistics for IP, Capacity, and Utilization: Total Industry excluding Selected High-Technology Industries
Ascii Screen reader Table 14: Historical Statistics for IP, Capacity, and Utilization: Manufacturing excluding Selected High-Technology Industries




Release dates | Documentation
Current Monthly Release   Other formats: ASCII | PDF (144 KB)
Supplemental Monthly Release   Other formats: ASCII | PDF (144 KB)
Annual Revision Release   Other formats: ASCII | PDF (150 KB)
Data Download Program (DDP) | Announcements | Historical data (text files)

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