Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization - G.17

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Release Date: May 16, 2018
Revision of Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization Notice Below

Industrial production rose 0.7 percent in April for its third consecutive monthly increase. The rates of change for industrial production for previous months were revised downward, on net; for the first quarter, output is now reported to have advanced 2.3 percent at an annual rate. After being unchanged in March, manufacturing output rose 0.5 percent in April. The indexes for mining and utilities moved up 1.1 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively. At 107.3 percent of its 2012 average, total industrial production in April was 3.5 percent higher than it was a year earlier. Capacity utilization for the industrial sector climbed 0.4 percentage point in April to 78.0 percent, a rate that is 1.8 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2017) average.

Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization: Summary
Seasonally adjusted
Industrial production 2012=100 Percent change
2017 2018 2017 2018 Apr. '17 to
Apr. '18
Nov.[r] Dec.[r] Jan.[r] Feb.[r] Mar.[r] Apr.[p] Nov.[r] Dec.[r] Jan.[r] Feb.[r] Mar.[r] Apr.[p]
       
Total index 105.3 105.7 105.3 105.7 106.5 107.3 .5 .4 -.4 .4 .7 .7 3.5
Previous estimates 105.3 105.8 105.6 106.6 107.2   .5 .5 -.2 1.0 .5    
       
Major market groups
Final Products 101.2 101.4 101.6 101.5 102.3 103.4 -.1 .2 .2 -.1 .8 1.1 2.8
Consumer goods 104.6 105.1 105.4 105.0 106.1 107.1 -.1 .5 .2 -.3 1.0 .9 3.4
Business equipment 98.8 98.5 98.5 98.5 98.6 99.8 .0 -.4 .0 .0 .1 1.2 1.3
Nonindustrial supplies 106.0 106.6 105.7 106.4 106.5 106.9 .5 .6 -.9 .7 .0 .4 1.6
Construction 111.9 112.9 111.1 114.4 113.3 113.6 .4 .9 -1.6 3.0 -1.0 .3 2.5
Materials 108.3 108.9 108.1 108.9 109.9 110.5 1.1 .5 -.7 .8 .9 .5 4.6
       
Major industry groups
Manufacturing (see note below) 102.9 102.8 102.1 103.6 103.6 104.1 .2 -.1 -.6 1.4 .0 .5 1.8
Previous estimates 102.9 103.0 102.6 104.1 104.2   .3 .1 -.4 1.5 .1    
Mining 113.9 115.1 113.9 117.1 118.0 119.3 2.0 1.1 -1.0 2.8 .8 1.1 10.6
Utilities 103.3 106.6 108.8 98.4 104.4 106.4 .3 3.2 2.1 -9.6 6.1 1.9 6.0
Capacity utilization Percent of capacity Capacity
growth
Average
1972-
2017 		1988-
89
high 		1990-
91
low 		1994-
95
high 		 
2009
low 		 
2017
Apr. 		   
2017 2018 Apr. '17 to
Apr. '18
Nov.[r] Dec.[r] Jan.[r] Feb.[r] Mar.[r] Apr.[p]
       
Total industry 79.8 85.2 78.8 85.0 66.7 76.2 77.1 77.3 76.9 77.1 77.6 78.0 1.1
Previous estimates             77.1 77.3 77.1 77.7 78.0    
       
Manufacturing (see note below) 78.3 85.6 77.3 84.6 63.7 75.1 75.3 75.1 74.6 75.6 75.5 75.8 .9
Previous estimates             75.3 75.3 74.9 76.0 75.9    
Mining 87.0 86.3 84.3 88.6 78.2 83.4 87.9 88.6 87.4 89.6 90.0 90.6 1.8
Utilities 85.3 92.9 84.4 92.9 78.3 76.2 77.6 79.9 81.5 73.5 77.9 79.2 1.9
       
Stage-of-process groups
Crude 86.0 87.8 84.7 90.0 76.4 83.4 86.7 86.9 85.4 87.1 87.7 88.2 1.4
Primary and semifinished 80.4 86.5 78.1 87.7 63.8 75.0 75.9 76.3 76.2 75.3 76.2 76.6 1.0
Finished 76.9 83.4 77.3 80.7 66.6 74.6 74.3 74.3 74.1 75.0 74.8 75.3 1.2
r Revised. p Preliminary.
Market Groups

The rise in industrial production in April was supported by increases for every major market group. Consumer goods, business equipment, and defense and space equipment posted gains of nearly 1 percent or more, while construction supplies, business supplies, and materials recorded smaller increases.

Within consumer goods, the output of nondurables rose nearly 1 1/2 percent in April, as both consumer energy products and non-energy nondurable consumer goods posted increases. The output of durable consumer goods declined about 1/2 percent, mostly because of a sizable drop in automotive products. The advance in business equipment resulted from gains for information processing equipment and for industrial and other equipment, while the rise in materials was led by an increase for energy materials.

Industry Groups

Manufacturing output moved up 0.5 percent in April; for the first quarter, the index registered a downwardly revised increase of 1.4 percent at an annual rate. In April, the indexes for durables and nondurables each gained about 1/2 percent, while the production of other manufacturing industries (publishing and logging) rose nearly 1 percent. Among durables, advances of more than 1 percent were posted by machinery; computer and electronic products; electrical equipment, appliances, and components; and aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment. The largest losses, slightly more than 1 percent, were recorded by motor vehicles and parts and by wood products. The increase in nondurables reflected widespread gains among its industries.

The output of mining rose 1.1 percent in April and was 10.6 percent above its year-earlier level. The increase in the mining index for April reflected further gains in the oil and gas sector but was tempered by a drop in coal mining.

In April, the index for utilities advanced 1.9 percent. The output of electric utilities was little changed, but the output of gas utilities jumped more than 10 percent as a result of strong demand for heating due to below-normal temperatures.

Capacity utilization for manufacturing rose to 75.8 percent in April, a rate that is 2.5 percentage points below its long-run average. Increases were observed in all three main categories of manufacturing. The operating rates for durables and nondurables each moved up about 1/4 percentage point, and the rate for other manufacturing rose about 3/4 percentage point. Utilization for mining rose about 1/2 percentage point and remained above its long-run average; the rate for utilities jumped more than 1 percentage point.

Revision of Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization

The Federal Reserve Board issued its annual revision to the index of industrial production (IP) and the related measures of capacity utilization on March 23, 2018. New annual benchmark data for 2016 for manufacturing were incorporated, as well as other annual data, including information on the mining of metallic and nonmetallic minerals (except fuels). The updated IP indexes included 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 were changed. Modifications to the methods for estimating the output of an industry affected the index from 1972 to the present.

Capacity and capacity utilization were revised to incorporate data through the fourth quarter of 2017 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.

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Last Update: May 16, 2018