Federal Reserve Statistical Release, G.17, Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization; title with eagle logo links to Statistical Release home page
Release Date: December 16, 2003
Release dates | Historical data | 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)

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION
[2003 Revision Notice Below]

Industrial production rose 0.9 percent in November, its largest increase since October 1999. At 112.9 percent of its 1997 average, output was 1.6 percent above its level in November 2002. Despite a small decline in the production of motor vehicles and parts, manufacturing output climbed 0.9 percent in November. Capacity utilization for total industry moved up 0.6 percentage point, to 75.7 percent, a level 0.3 percentage point higher than its year-earlier level but 5.6 percentage points below its 1972-2002 average.


INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION: SUMMARY
Seasonally adjusted
  1997=100 Percent change
  2003       2003       Nov. '02 to
Industrial production Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Nov. '03
                   
Total index  110.9  111.5  111.9  112.9     .0     .6     .4     .9    1.6
   Previous estimates  111.0  111.5  111.8           .2     .5     .2    
                   
Major market groups                  
Final Products  107.2  107.7  107.7  108.5     .1     .5     .0     .7     .9
   Consumer goods  105.7  106.0  106.0  106.5    -.2     .4     .0     .4     .0
   Business equipment  110.0  111.1  110.8  112.7     .6    1.0    -.2    1.7    2.9
Nonindustrial supplies  108.6  108.6  109.7  110.7    -.1     .0    1.0     .9    1.9
   Construction  101.9  102.2  103.2  104.2     .4     .2    1.0    1.0    1.4
Materials  115.5  116.5  117.2  118.5     .0     .8     .6    1.1    2.2
                   
Major industry groups                  
Manufacturing (see note below)  111.8  112.7  113.0  114.0     .0     .8     .3     .9    1.8
   Previous estimates  111.8  112.6  112.7           .0     .7     .1    
Mining   93.1   93.7   93.3   93.8    -.3     .7    -.5     .6     .0
Utilities  111.8  110.3  112.4  114.0     .5   -1.4    2.0    1.4    1.0


    Capacity
  Percent of capacity growth
  Average 1982 1988-89 2002 2003       Nov. '02 to
Capacity utilization 1972-2002 Low High Nov. Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Nov. '03
                   
Total industry   81.3   70.9   85.2   75.4   74.5   74.9   75.1   75.7    1.1
   Previous estimates                           74.6   74.9   75.0            
                   
Manufacturing (see note below)   80.2   68.7   85.6   73.6   73.0   73.5   73.7   74.3    1.0
   Previous estimates                           73.0   73.5   73.5            
Mining   86.9   78.6   85.6   85.1   84.8   85.4   85.0   85.5    -.5
Utilities   87.0   77.6   92.8   87.1   83.5   82.1   83.4   84.3    4.3
                   
Stage-of-process groups                  
Crude   86.4   77.2   88.5   83.3   83.4   84.0   83.6   84.2   -1.1
Primary and semifinished   82.4   68.1   86.4   77.7   76.4   76.7   77.4   78.1    1.8
Finished   78.4   71.3   83.2   71.1   70.6   71.1   70.9   71.5     .8

r Revised. p Preliminary.
The statistics in this release cover output, capacity, and capacity utilization in the
industrial sector, which the Federal Reserve defines as manufacturing, mining, and electric and
gas utilities. Manufacturing comprises those industries included in the North American Industry
Classification System, or NAICS, manufacturing plus the logging and newspaper, periodical,
book and directory publishing industries that have traditionally been considered manufacturing and included
in the industrial sector.


Market Groups

The output of consumer goods rose 0.4 percent in November. The production of consumer durables increased 0.5 percent despite a decline of 0.1 percent in the output of automotive products. The index for appliances, furniture, and carpeting moved up 1.7 percent. The output of home electronics and of miscellaneous goods also increased. The production of nondurables moved up 0.4 percent. The output of non-energy nondurables rose 0.4 percent; the indexes for foods and tobacco, for clothing, and for chemical products all posted gains. The output of consumer energy products increased 0.7 percent.

The production of business equipment climbed 1.7 percent. A rise of 2.5 percent in the output of industrial and other equipment and a rise of 1.1 percent in the output of information processing equipment were primarily responsible for the gains in this category. The increase in industrial and other equipment was led by a rebound in the production of farm machinery.

The output of defense and space equipment edged up and was 6.3 percent higher than its year-earlier level. The index for construction supplies recorded its second consecutive gain of 1.0 percent; this index has risen in each of the past five months. The output of business supplies has also been strong the past couple of months and rose 0.9 percent in November.

The production of industrial materials increased 1.1 percent. The index for non-energy materials moved up 1.2 percent, and all major components posted gains. Led by a rise in the production of semiconductors, the output of equipment parts climbed 2.9 percent in November; this index has recorded gains of more than 1 percent in each of the past six months and is 15.3 percent higher than its year-earlier level. The output of energy materials rose 0.8 percent.

Industry Groups

Manufacturing output increased 0.9 percent in November. The overall factory operating rate rose 0.6 percent, to 74.3 percent, a level 0.7 percentage point above its year-earlier level but 5.9 percentage points below its 1972-2002 average. Excluding the production of motor vehicles and parts, which fell back 0.3 percent, manufacturing output rose 1.0 percent. The production of durable goods increased 1.4 percent; gains were widespread across industries. Increases of more than 1.0 percent were recorded in several industries, including computers and electronic products, machinery, miscellaneous goods, primary metals, nonmetallic mineral products, and furniture and related products. Among the high-technology industries, all three major sectors-- computers, semiconductors, and communications equipment--posted gains for the second consecutive month. The output of nondurable goods rose 0.4 percent, and many industries in the category recorded increases. The indexes for textiles and for apparel and leather moved up in each of the past two months but remained well below their year-earlier levels. Production increased noticeably in the paper and chemical industries. The petroleum and coal products industry and the plastics and rubber products industry were the only two major categories of nondurables that declined in November; still, output in both industries remained near their highs for the year.

Production at mines rose 0.6 percent in November; the utilization rate increased 0.5 percentage point, to 85.5 percent, a rate 1.4 percentage points below its 1972-2002 average. The output of utilities rose 1.4 percent. The operating rate at utilities moved up 0.9 percentage point; at 84.3 percent, the rate is 2.7 percentage points below its 1972-2002 average. By stage of processing, capacity utilization for industries in the crude stage increased 0.6 percentage point, to 84.2 percent. Utilization for industries in the primary and semifinished stage increased 0.7 percentage point, to 78.1 percent. Utilization for industries in the finished stage increased 0.6 percentage point, to 71.5 percent.

Revision of Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization

On November 10, the Federal Reserve Board issued a revision to the index of industrial production (IP), the related measures of capacity and capacity utilization, and the data on industrial use of electric power. The updated measures reflect the incorporation of newly available, more comprehensive source data typical of annual revisions. The updating of source data for IP in the 2003 annual revision included annual data from the Census Bureau's 2000 and 2001 Annual Survey of Manufactures and from selected editions of its 2001 and 2002 Current Industrial Reports. Annual data from the U.S. Geological Survey regarding metallic and nonmetallic minerals (except fuels) for 2001 and 2002 were also introduced. The updating included revisions to the monthly indicator for each industry (either physical product data, production-worker hours, or electric power usage) and revisions to seasonal factors.

Capacity and capacity utilization were revised to incorporate preliminary data from the Census Bureau's 2002 Survey of Plant Capacity, which covers manufacturing, along with other new data on capacity from the U.S. Geological Survey, the Department of Energy, and other organizations. The statistics on the industrial use of electric power incorporate additional information received from utilities for the past few years and include some data from the 2001 Annual Survey of Manufactures.

The revision release and revised data are available on the Board's web site, at www.federalreserve.gov/releases/G17. The revised data are also available through the web site of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Further information on these revisions is available from the Board's Industrial Output Section (telephone 202-452-3197).

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
Ascii Screen reader Table 10: Gross-Value-Weighted Industrial Production: Stage-of-Process Groups
Ascii Screen reader Table 11: Electric Power Use: Manufacturing and Mining
Ascii Screen reader Table 12: Historical Statistics for IP, Capacity, and Utilization: Total Industry
Ascii Screen reader Table 13: Historical Statistics for IP, Capacity, and Utilization: Manufacturing
Ascii Screen reader Table 14: Historical Statistics for IP, Capacity, and Utilization: Total Industry excluding Selected High-Technology Industries
Ascii Screen reader Table 15: Historical Statistics for IP, Capacity, and Utilization: Manufacturing excluding Selected High-Technology Industries



Release dates | Historical data | 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)

Statistical releases


Last update: December 16, 2003, 9:15 AM