Federal Reserve Statistical Release, G.17, Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization; title with eagle logo links to Statistical Release home page
Release Date: January 16, 2009
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INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION

[Annual Revision Notice Below]

Industrial production fell 2.0 percent in December, and declines were again widespread. Output was revised up in October, but it was revised down in November; for the fourth quarter as a whole, total industrial production decreased 11.5 percent at an annual rate. At 103.6 percent of its 2002 average, output in December was 7.8 percent below its year-earlier level. In December, manufacturing production dropped 2.3 percent. The output of mines moved down 1.6 percent, and the output of electric and gas utilities was little changed. Capacity utilization for total industry fell to 73.6 percent in December, a level 7.4 percentage points below its average level from 1972 to 2007.

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION: SUMMARY
Seasonally adjusted
 
 
Industrial production
2002=100 Percent change
2008 2008 Dec. '07 to
Dec. '08
July[r] Aug.[r] Sept.[r] Oct.[r] Nov.[r] Dec.[p] July[r] Aug.[r] Sept.[r] Oct.[r] Nov.[r] Dec.[p]
       
Total index  111.2  109.8  105.2  107.1  105.7  103.6     .0   -1.3   -4.2    1.8   -1.3   -2.0   -7.8
   Previous estimates  111.3  109.8  105.2  106.8  106.1           .0   -1.3   -4.1    1.5    -.6    
       
Major market groups      
Final Products  112.2  110.5  107.4  108.6  108.4  107.3    -.3   -1.6   -2.7    1.1    -.2   -1.0   -5.4
   Consumer goods  106.1  103.8  102.3  104.6  103.6  101.8    -.1   -2.1   -1.5    2.3   -1.0   -1.7   -5.2
   Business equipment  129.8  129.3  119.9  116.8  120.2  122.4    -.4    -.4   -7.3   -2.6    2.9    1.8   -6.7
Nonindustrial supplies  105.9  105.0  102.4  102.7  100.2   97.7     .1    -.8   -2.5     .4   -2.5   -2.5   -9.2
   Construction  102.0  101.0   98.7   97.3   92.8   89.7     .7    -.9   -2.2   -1.4   -4.6   -3.4  -14.0
Materials  112.2  110.9  104.2  107.3  105.2  102.3     .1   -1.2   -6.0    3.0   -2.0   -2.8   -9.6
       
Major industry groups      
Manufacturing (see note below)  111.9  110.8  106.4  107.4  105.0  102.5    -.2   -1.0   -3.9     .9   -2.2   -2.3   -9.9
   Previous estimates  111.9  110.8  106.3  107.0  105.5          -.1   -1.1   -4.0     .6   -1.4    
Mining  105.8  105.2   95.2  102.3  104.5  102.9    1.5    -.5   -9.5    7.4    2.2   -1.6   -1.0
Utilities  108.9  103.9  105.5  107.8  108.8  108.7   -1.0   -4.6    1.6    2.1    1.0    -.1     .4


 
 
 
 
Capacity utilization
 
Percent of capacity
Capacity
growth
Average
1972-
2007
1988-
89
high
1990-
91
low
1994-
95
high
2001-
02
low
 
2007
Dec.
   
2008 Dec. '07 to
Dec. '08
July[r] Aug.[r] Sept.[r] Oct.[r] Nov.[r] Dec.[p]
       
Total industry   81.0   85.0   78.6   85.1   73.6   81.0   79.4   78.3   75.0   76.3   75.2   73.6    1.5
   Previous estimates                                       79.5   78.3   75.0   76.0   75.4            
       
Manufacturing (see note below)   79.7   85.4   77.1   84.6   71.5   79.2   77.1   76.2   73.1   73.7   71.9   70.2    1.7
   Previous estimates                                       77.1   76.2   73.1   73.4   72.3            
Mining   87.5   86.3   83.6   88.7   84.8   90.9   92.1   91.6   82.9   88.9   90.8   89.3     .7
Utilities   86.8   92.7   84.1   93.9   84.6   85.5   84.9   80.9   82.0   83.6   84.3   84.0    2.2
       
Stage-of-process groups      
Crude   86.6   88.3   84.4   89.5   81.9   90.2   89.8   89.3   79.3   85.7   85.7   83.9     .5
Primary and semifinished   82.2   86.4   77.8   88.2   74.6   81.0   79.2   77.8   75.3   76.5   74.1   72.1    1.8
Finished   77.7   82.8   77.1   80.4   69.9   77.7   75.7   74.7   73.0   72.4   72.4   71.4    1.8

Market Groups

The production of consumer goods declined 1.7 percent in December and contracted at an annual rate of 2.8 percent in the fourth quarter. In December, the production of consumer durables tumbled 4.7 percent, and the index for nondurables moved down 1.0 percent. Among durables, the production of automotive products fell 7.0 percent. Output also dropped in all the other major categories of consumer durable goods: home electronics; appliances, furniture, and carpeting; and miscellaneous goods. The production of nondurable non-energy consumer goods fell 1.5 percent in December, its first decrease since August. The indexes for foods and tobacco, clothing, paper products, and chemical products all moved lower. After a drop in November, the index for consumer energy goods edged up 0.2 percent in December.

Although the index for business equipment moved up 1.8 percent in December, it fell at an annual rate of more than 19 percent in the fourth quarter. The output of commercial aircraft, which surged in December to a bit above its pre-strike level, provided a boost to transit equipment. However, for the fourth quarter as a whole, the production of transit equipment plunged 33.1 percent at an annual rate primarily because of cuts in motor vehicle production and the strike in commercial aircraft. In December, the output of information processing equipment declined for a sixth consecutive month, dropping 1.5 percent, and the production of industrial and other equipment fell for a fourth month to an index 9.8 percent below its year-earlier reading.

The output of defense and space equipment declined 0.7 percent and was 3.5 percent below its level 12 months earlier.

Among nonindustrial supplies, the production of construction supplies moved down 3.4 percent. Over the 12 months ending in December, this index declined 14 percent, its third consecutive annual decline. The output of business supplies fell 2.1 percent in December and was more than 7 percent below its year-earlier level.

Materials output fell 2.8 percent and was down 14.4 percent at an annual rate in the fourth quarter. After two months of gains, the production of energy materials decreased 0.6 percent in December. The production of durable materials fell for the fifth consecutive month, down 4.7 percent. The index for consumer parts decreased 5.7 percent, in large part because of declines in the output of motor vehicle parts. The index for equipment parts dropped 4.0 percent, and the output of other durable materials fell 5.0 percent. The production of nondurable materials decreased 3.4 percent; the indexes for textile, paper, and chemical materials all moved lower.

Industry Groups

Manufacturing output fell 2.3 percent in December to a level almost 10 percent below that of 12 months earlier. For the fourth quarter as a whole, manufacturing output contracted at an annual rate of more than 16 percent. In December, the factory operating rate moved down 1.7 percentage points, to 70.2 percent, a level 9.5 percentage points below its 1972 to 2007 average. The production of durable goods industries declined 2.6 percent in December. Output fell in every major category of durable goods with the exception of aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment. The jump in this index reflected the further recovery of output from the strike in commercial aircraft. The production of nondurable goods moved down 2.1 percent, and declines were recorded in all the major nondurable goods indexes.

The index for the other manufacturing category, which consists of publishing and logging, decreased 2.1 percent in December and was down 5.0 percent at an annual rate in the fourth quarter.

The output of electric and gas utilities was little changed in December, and the operating rate moved down 0.3 percentage point to 84.0 percent, a rate 2.8 percentage points below its 1972-2007 average. Mining output declined 1.6 percent in December but rose for the quarter as a whole. The utilization rate in mining fell 1.5 percentage points, to 89.3 percent, a rate 1.8 percentage points above its 1972-2007 average.

Capacity utilization rates in December at industries grouped by stage of process were as follows: At the crude stage, utilization decreased 1.8 percentage points to 83.9 percent, a rate 2.7 percentage points below its 1972-2007 average; at the primary and semifinished stages, utilization moved down 2.0 percentage points, to 72.1 percent, a rate more than 10 percentage points below its long-run average; and at the finished stage, utilization declined 1.0 percentage point, to 71.4 percent, a rate 6.3 percentage points below its long-run average.

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 27, 2009. The revised IP indexes will incorporate data from selected editions of the U.S. Census Bureau's 2007 Current Industrial Reports. Detailed data from the 2007 Economic Census, however, are not expected to be available. Annual data from the U.S. Geological Survey regarding metallic and nonmetallic minerals (except fuels) for 2007 will also be incorporated. The update will include revisions to the monthly indicator (either product data or input data) and to seasonal factors for each industry as well as changes in the estimation methods for some series. Any changes 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 from the Census Bureau's Quarterly Survey of Plant Capacity, which covers manufacturing, along with new data on capacity from the U.S. Geological Survey, the Department of Energy, and other organizations.

Once the revision is published, it will be available on the Board's website at www.federalreserve.gov/releases/G17. The revised data will also be available through the website of the Department of Commerce. Further information on the revision can be obtained from the Board's Industrial Output Section (telephone number 202-452-3197).

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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